The Adhesive Duck Displacement
by notjaneausten
Summary: When Sheldon falls 'fowl' due to his little bath ducks failing to keep up to their promises, there is only one person that is around to help him in his time of need...Amy Farrah Fowler. Rating changed to M; due to their escapades in Chapter 20...naughty Shamy! Disclaimer: All characters within remain the property of Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady...all hail their combined genius!
1. Chapter 1

"So, we'll be at the Plaza until Thursday and then will head over to my Mothers for a couple of days, we'll be back on Sunday." Leonard hovered in Sheldon's doorway, twitching with concern at the fact that he and Penny would be leaving Sheldon alone for the first time since he returned from his voyage of self-discovery.

"Leonard, Beverley has already supplied me with your complete itinerary…" Sheldon sighed as he checked his watch for the time, "You will miss your plane if you don't depart within the next ten minutes."

"Sheldon, this will be the first time you've really been alone since you got back and I'm a little worried about how you will get along. Howard and Bernadette are away with her folks for a few days and Raj is away at a conference until Tuesday."

"Leonard, Leonard, Leonard…" Sheldon sighed heavily, "You really must learn to communicate with your fiancée a little more. Penny has arranged for Amy to come over and stay at your apartment so that she can drive me into work every morning, followed by the comic-book store and train store. I wanted Amy to stay with me but for some reason she flatly refused."

"Hmm, I wonder why?" Leonard muttered, sarcasm lacing his tone; once again Sheldon was completely oblivious and treated it as a genuine question.

"I really don't know, Leonard. It is very perplexing." Sheldon shifted on his feet and checked his watch again. "I am now ten minutes behind my morning schedule."

"Sheldon, did it ever occur to you that the reason Amy refused to stay at your place was because you blatantly refused to consider her as a roommate? I mean, just think back a few weeks to how you treated her on the way back from Arizona…? That's hardly the reaction I would have expected after being parted from Penny for nearly two months." Leonard was losing patience with trying to get Sheldon to see that his constant need to keep Amy at arms' length could eventually lead to Amy pulling away from him completely. He turned back over to Penny's apartment and yelled across the hallway. "Penny! Get a move on, we're gonna be late!"

"Okay, okay! I'm ready, I was just changing the sheets for Amy." Penny ran out of the apartment and pressed her key into Sheldon's hand. "Here, sweetie, see that Amy gets this will you?"

"You're only changing the sheets now? What about the dirty ones?"

"They're in the hamper." Penny replied as she prepared to walk down the stairwell with Leonard.

"The hamper? Do you know how many germs will be left in those sheets? Do you expect Amy to do your laundry for you as well?"

"No, I'll do it when we get back. Bye, Moonpie!" Penny gave Sheldon a jaunty wave as she and Leonard started their descent; ignoring his protest that only his Meemaw was allowed to call him **that**. They heard the apartment door slam shut and Leonard gave Penny a sly grin as he held the lobby doors open for her.

"Nicely done, Penny."

"I don't know what you mean." Penny gave Leonard her most innocent of looks and he chuckled.

"You changed those sheets whilst I showered this morning, there was plenty of time to have stuck them in the wash…you just wanted Sheldon to do it for you."

"Well, who am I to disagree if Sheldon feels the need to launder the entire contents of our hamper? Less for me to worry about when we get back, I know that Amy will have cleaned the apartment and changed the sheets for our return…so it will be like coming back to a completely brand new place." Penny winked over at her fiancé and Leonard just gave her another grin and a shake of his head. They carried their bags around to the resident's parking lot at the rear of the building and loaded up Leonard's car. As they pulled out of the lot, they noticed Amy pulling around the side of the building and Leonard lowered the window so that Penny could call out to her bestie.

"Hey Ames!"

"Good morning, Penny." Amy glanced down at her watch and then back over at Penny. "Aren't you running a little behind schedule?"

"Nice to see you, Amy. Gotta go, bye!" Leonard sighed inwardly, it was like listening to a female version of Sheldon. He waved out of the window and started to pull away. Penny leant across the centre console and yelled out of the window.

"I gave Sheldon the spare key to my place and changed the sheets on the bed…See you Monday!" Leonard waved again as he pulled out of the lot and Amy took his space; ensuring that her temporary resident's permit was displayed correctly in the windscreen. She pulled her roll along suitcase out of the trunk and placed her laptop bag over the handle. Slipping her purse crosswise over her shoulder, Amy wheeled her sparse belongings around the side of the building and into the lobby. She sighed heavily as she remembered that the elevator in Sheldon's building was still out of order and started to bump her case up the four flights of stairs to the landing separating Penny's apartment in 4B to Sheldon's apartment in 4A. Just as she was about to knock on Sheldon's front door to request the key to Penny's apartment, she heard a terrible groaning coming from inside 4A.

"Sheldon? Is everything alright in there?" Amy rapped on the front door with her knuckles and pressed her ear to the door. All she could hear were the muted groans from inside. She tried the door and discovered that it was unlocked. Withdrawing her can of mace from inside her purse, Amy slowly made her way through the empty living room, following the sounds of the groans down the hallway. "Sheldon?" Amy called out softly and heard a thud coming from inside the bathroom. Pushing the door open slightly, Amy peered through the small crack and gasped in horror at the sight of Sheldon lying semi unconscious over the edge of the bath. She ran over and switched off the water with one hand and with the other draped a towel over Sheldon's exposed groin area; not before she caught a peek at what he had been hiding underneath his baggy cargo pants all of these years.

"Hoo," She whispered under her breath and scrambled for her phone in the depths of her purse. "Hello…My name is Doctor Amy Farrah Fowler and I need an ambulance at 2311 Los Robles Avenue, Apartment 4A. I have a thirty four year old man, semi unconscious after a fall in the shower; he has lacerations to his scalp and face…and a clearly broken arm…how do I know it's broken? I may be a neurobiologist and not a medical doctor, but I'm pretty certain that the bone is supposed to stay on the inside…" Sheldon groaned weakly again and tried to lift his head from the side of the bath, Amy pressed a hand against his shoulder, holding him in place as she finished the call. "Fifteen minutes? Thank you." She disconnected the call and looked under the sink for one of the emergency first aid supplies that Sheldon kept in every room. She located a sterile gauze pad and pressed it against Sheldon's forehead. He opened his eyes slowly and blinked at the sight of his girlfriend kneeling down beside the bath.

"Amy? You can't be in here…I'm naked! Aargh…." Sheldon started to sit up in the bath and felt a wave of pain spreading down his right arm, his face paled and his vision blurred as he saw the way his arm was bent at an awkward angle.

"Shhh….Sheldon, you've had an accident…don't worry the paramedics are on their way; just sit back and breathe with me…that's it, nice and slow…" Amy kept her cool hand against his forehead, holding the gauze in place. She could see the beads of sweat forming on his waxy skin and knew that he must be in terrible pain. "Can you raise your other hand up a little to hold the gauze in place? I'm going to grab your robe from the back of the door and another fresh towel."

"The ducks…" Sheldon muttered as he fought to remain conscious when all of his body wanted to do was to slip away into that lovely peaceful darkness.

"Stay awake, Sheldon!" Amy turned around to gently tap his uninjured cheek and his eyelids fluttered open to reveal blue eyes that were dulled with pain. "What was that about the ducks?"

"Supposed to stop slippages…" Sheldon murmured as his eyelids fluttered shut and this time they stayed that way for a long while. Amy couldn't help but to feel a little relieved that he had finally passed out completely; especially when the paramedics had to lift his naked form out of the bath to strap him on the gurney. She knew how mortified Sheldon would have been if he were awake and made sure that his robe covered him sufficiently before the paramedics strapped him down and made their way down the stairs. After checking which hospital they were taking him to, Amy grabbed his emergency kit from the living room closet; shoved both sets of apartment keys inside her purse and followed the ambulance all the way to Pasadena General.


	2. Chapter 2

Sheldon was prepped for immediate surgery to pin his right arm and as Amy was listed as his emergency contact, she was able to complete all of the necessary consent forms for him. While he was in the operating room, she placed a call to President Siebert informing him of the accident and explaining that until she could get in contact with Sheldon's Mother, she would need a leave of absence to care for her injured boyfriend. President Siebert was very understanding and showed genuine concern for Sheldon's wellbeing, assuring her that there was no need to worry about either of their studies; everything would be taken care of. Amy disconnected and scrolled through her phone to try and contact Leonard.

"You've reached Leonard, I can't come to the phone right now because I'm off romancing the pants off my beautiful fiancée…leave a message and I'll get back to you whenever I come up for air!" Amy reached Leonard's voice mail service and left a message.

"Leonard, this is Amy. I know that you are flying somewhere over the continently United States right now but I thought you should know that Sheldon is currently undergoing orthopaedic surgery…he had a fall in the shower just as I arrived and now requires internal fixation to repair his broken right radius and ulna; he has been administered intravenous antibiotics as unfortunately his radius pierced the skin of his forearm as he hit the side of the bath…I am waiting for a call back from his Mother, unfortunately both she and his Meemaw were out when I rang earlier. Please call me back when you get this message." Amy disconnected and tried Penny's phone, when that went directly through to voicemail too, Amy left similar message. She dialled Raj, Howard, Bernadette and even Stuart…but not one of them was available to take her call.

Amy drank cup after cup of disgustingly weak coffee from the vending machines in the waiting room, until after four hours had passed, the surgical registrar came to give her an update.

"Doctor Fowler?"

"Yes?" Amy looked up at the sound of her name, and the registrar came over to take a seat next to her.

"I'm Doctor Benson, Doctor Cooper came through his surgery with flying colours. We've placed two sets of internal pins to his radius and ulna…" Doctor Benson traced his finger over his own forearm to show where Sheldon's pins were located and Amy nodded in understanding.

"And did you decide on an open cast?"

"Yes, a temporary one just until the stitches are ready to come out. It's a lightweight Velcro version that we will replace with plaster as soon as we've confirmed that no infection is likely to set in. He's been given a sling to keep his arm closely wrapped against his torso, and I want to keep Doctor Cooper in tonight for observation. If everything goes well, you will be able to take him home tomorrow."

"May I see him now, please?" Amy asked and Doctor Benson looked over at the clock.

"He's a little spacy from the anaesthetic still, he's in recovery at the moment. Give him another half an hour to come round completely and I'll get one of the nurses to come get you as soon as he's settled."

"Do you think they could get him changed before he comes around completely? I know Sheldon will settle more quickly if he wakes up and he's not in one of those paper gowns." Amy held out Sheldon's emergency kit which contained a spare pair of plaid pyjamas, toothbrush and toothpaste and a complete set of clean clothes.

"Ah…sure. He won't be able to wear the shirt just yet, but I'll ask the nurses to put the pants on him if you think that will make him more comfortable." Doctor Benson accepted the bag and made his goodbyes. Just as he left, Amy's phone began to vibrate in her pocket.

"Amy? What's this I hear about Shelly takin' a tumble in the bathtub?"

"Missy? I thought I'd rang your Mother?" Amy frowned at the light tinkle of Sheldon's twin sister's voice.

"Mama and Meemaw are takin' a little vacation together, I came over to check on the plants and happened to hear your message. So, what's my crazy brother gone and done this time? And more to the point, just what were you doing in his bathroom?" Missy asked teasingly and Amy sighed.

"Leonard and Penny have gone off on a romantic vacation to New York, I was supposed to be staying over at their apartment so that I could run Sheldon to work…Penny left her key with Sheldon, I arrived and heard him groaning, so I went in and found him sprawled nearly unconscious in the bathtub…He's been in surgery all morning, and…."

"Surgery! Amy, please tell me what is wrong with Shellybean!" Missy's tone grew higher until she was almost screeching down the phone, Amy winced and held it a little away from her ear.

"Don't panic, Missy; he's going to be just fine. He managed to break his right arm in two places and they decided the best course of action would be to insert a few pins inside the bone to help stabilise it. He also needed a few stitches to his forehead, but they are hoping to release him tomorrow. I was hoping that your Mother might be able to come and take care of him for a few weeks."

"Aw, sorry Amy; but they're taking a cruise around the Bahama's…one of Mama's 'Born Again Boat Rides' – they won't be back until next Sunday. I'd come if I could, but with the baby…"

"I understand, it's okay Missy. I'll have to manage somehow." Amy reassured Missy once again that Sheldon would be fine and after exchanging a few more pleasantries and promising to keep her updated, Amy hung up.

"Doctor Fowler, Doctor Cooper has been moved into his room now. Could you follow me, please?" A pleasant sounding nurse poked her head around the waiting room door and Amy gathered up her jacket and purse to follow her along the corridor.

"Is he awake yet?"

"Not completely, no. We did manage to get his pyjama pants on and have left the rest of his things in the locker next to his bed. He kept mumbling something about 'the ducks'?" The nurse looked over at Amy who gave a slight wry smile.

"Sheldon has little adhesive ducks on the bottom of his bathtub to prevent slippages; it seems that they are no longer up to the task."

"Ah, I see. You'd be surprised at how many people we have coming through here that have slipped in their tubs or shower stalls. You might want to think about getting those replaced, I can recommend a few brands that have the longevity factor." The nurse reeled off a couple of brands and Amy made a note of their names and looked over with another small smile.

"Thank you, I'll make sure Sheldon is updated."

"Here we are, Room 473. We'll be in every couple of hours to check on his condition; Doctor Benson is concerned that he may have a slight concussion, so I'm afraid we will be waking him up throughout the night to check his reaction times." The nurse pushed open the door and Amy stepped through, gasping at the sight of Sheldon's battered body. There was a dark line of stiches across his right temple and his whole right torso was a mottled patchwork of bruises. His right arm was hidden within a Velcro sling holding it taut against his chest.

"Oh, Sheldon…" Amy sighed as she took a seat in the high backed armchair next to the bed.

"There's a cot against the wall for you, if you would like to stay."

"Thank you, I would…Nurse…?"

"Anna Rogers, I'm the Advanced Practise Registered Nurse for the Orthopaedics Department. I managed to scrounge up a blanket and pillow for you as well. The bathroom is over in the corner and there's a television on the wall." Anna looked down at her beeper and frowned. "Excuse me, but duty calls. Either myself or one of my nurses will be in a little later." Anna left the room and Amy was left alone with Sheldon once more. She leant over to smooth his dark hair away from his pale forehead and Sheldon twitched slightly at her touch and his eyelids fluttered open.

"Amy?" He muttered and winced at the pounding in his head, just from the sound of his own voice.

"I'm here, Sheldon." Amy kept her tone low and even as she reassured him that she was by his side.

"What happened? Where am I?"

"You had an accident in the shower due to your anti spillage adhesive ducks not performing their duties. You broke your arm and had to have surgery."

"I did? I don't remember any of it…" Sheldon turned his head on the pillow and blinked sleepily at his girlfriend. "I feel funny…kind of all whirly inside."

"That will be the combination of antibiotics and painkillers presently coursing through your system." Amy stroked the back of his right hand where the intravenous drip was still attached.

"Oh…" Sheldon's eyes followed Amy's slender fingers tracing over the back of his hand and he blinked slowly. "Where's Leonard?"

"Leonard and Penny are in New York, don't you remember saying goodbye to them this morning?"

"Mmm…" Sheldon murmured sleepily and tried to rub his eyes with his dominant right hand. "Ow, that hurts!"

"You need to keep that arm in the sling, Sheldon. You have a temporary two piece cast on until your stitches are ready to come out, and then you will need a permanent plaster cast for another six weeks until your bones have fully healed."

"Stitches…oh, my…I feel a little woozy…" Sheldon's eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out once again, unable to process the full extent of his injuries and like any good android decided it was time for a reboot…


	3. Chapter 3

Sheldon continued to flip between conscious and unconscious states throughout the remainder of the day, only waking fully when Amy had just decided to turn in for the night.

"Amy, where is my pyjama jacket? And, why are you in my room?" Sheldon's startled voice brought Amy out from the minuscule bathroom and back over to the bed.

"Sheldon, do you remember anything that happened today?"

"I remember saying goodbye to Leonard and remarking that their tardiness had put me off my morning schedule by precisely ten minutes. I then decided for forgo breakfast in order to take a shower…and then I woke up here, in my emergency kit pyjama pants but without a jacket." Sheldon closed his eyes in mortification as the whole series of events unfolded in his mind's eye. "Oh, dear Lord! I remember now…"

"How do you feel? Do you need any painkillers? They took your drip out a few hours ago and said that you only had to press the buzzer if you needed anything." Amy paused by the side of the hospital bed and reached out to smooth the top cover into place.

"No, I don't need anything thank you." Sheldon's voice was quiet as he realised just how much of him Amy had inadvertently seen that morning. "I assume that you've called my family to inform them of my injury?"

"I have, but…"

"Then I'm perfectly fine being left on my own, Mama will come and take care of me and you can go on home." Sheldon shifted on the bed and let out an involuntary groan as his arm started throbbing relentlessly. "On second thought, maybe I will take another hit of whatever goes for pain relief around these parts. Perhaps you will be so good as to stop by the nurse's station on your way out? I'm sure Mama is halfway here by now, just aching to take care of her little man…"

"Um…Sheldon, I couldn't actually get hold of your Mother." Amy admitted, running her hands down her denim skirt.

"Meemaw then?"

"Not her either…I spoke with Missy instead."

"Awww…and she's gonna leave that baby of hers just to take care of me? That's so sweet…Amy, the painkillers, please." Sheldon's koala face dissolved into a grimace and he waved a hand over to the door. "Go on, you can go ahead and leave now. My sister will be hear soon and she can cook me soup and sing 'Soft Kitty' to me, I'll be fine. PLEASE GET ME THE DAMN PAINKILLERS!" Sheldon raised his voice at the end of the sentence and Amy turned away to hide her hurt expression.

"You know what Sheldon? You're a damned ungrateful wretch! I found you nearly unconscious in that bathroom and I stopped the bleeding on your forehead, I called the paramedics and I made sure that you were covered up when they put you on that gurney…and I don't even get a thank you! I called the university and told them that you'd had an accident, I arranged for your insurance cover and signed your consent forms so that you could have your surgery…I even stayed with you all day just so that you wouldn't be alone…well, I've just about had it!" Amy grabbed her jacket and bag from the chair and bundled them in her arms. "I'm sorry that this happened to you and that you are in pain and I hope you get well soon…on your own." She strode over to the door and just as she opened it up to step through she turned around to face him once more. "Missy isn't coming to sit as your bedside and sing softly in your ear, Sheldon; neither is your Mother or Grandmother. Leonard is out of town, as is Howard and Raj…I was the only available and you've made your feelings perfectly clear, I wish you a speedy recovery. Good night, Sheldon."

"Wait, Amy! What about section 4 of our Relationship Agreement? The Boo Boo's and Ouchies clause? Amy? AMY!" Sheldon yelled out through the slowly closing door, his pitch growing higher and higher with every syllable.

"Doctor Cooper, I have your pain medication. Doctor Fowler said that you were in considerable pain, so I've brought you through a quite high dosage." The nurse walked over and held out a medicine cup holding two capsules inside. "She's been here all day, I don't suppose you remember talking with her earlier, do you? She must have repeated the same conversation with you at least four times, how you had a little accident but that she'd made sure that you had your emergency kit with you. Did you know that she asked you surgeon to make sure that he asked your recovery nurses to put your pyjamas on before you were even fully out of the anaesthetic? She said that it might help calm your nerves a little if you were more suitably attired." The nurse bustled around Sheldon's bed, noting the time and dosage of the painkiller on his chart and seemingly oblivious to the fact that Sheldon hadn't said a word since Amy had left the room. "There now, Doctor Cooper, that should kick in presently and you won't feel a thing anymore. Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"I would like to make a phone call, if I may?"

"Certainly." The nurse tilted her head to one side as Sheldon looked over at her, and then chuckled softly. "Oh, you probably didn't realise it earlier – Doctor Fowler said that she had slipped your phone inside your bag, it's right there in the locker next to your bed." She reached down to retrieve the bag, setting it within easy reach of Sheldon's right hand. "I'll leave you alone to make your call, don't forget to use the buzzer if you need anything. Your evening meal will be along presently, Doctor Fowler made the selection for you earlier…Thai, I think." Sheldon murmured something incoherent in response and reached into his bag for his phone. Everything that she had just told him made him feel completely ashamed of his actions with Amy and he needed to make amends. He dialled her number with trembling fingers and waited for the connection.

"Yes, Sheldon?" Amy's tone gave him reason to suspect that she had been crying and Sheldon felt his own throat tighten in response.

"I'm sorry, Amy." He whispered into the phone, and gripped it tighter in his hand. "I'm sorry for yelling at you and inferring that you weren't needed…I do need you, Amy. I panicked a little and…"

"And what, Sheldon?" Amy's voice came into the room, not from the phone but from the open doorway of the room, where she was now leaning against the doorframe. Sheldon looked up and saw that her face rivalled his for waxy paleness and he could see the exhaustion behind her once, sparkling green eyes.

"Please…stay." Sheldon whispered, finally able to complete his sentence. "Don't leave me alone in this cesspit of disease."

"Oh, Sheldon. I made it as far as the nurse's station, but I never left…I knew that you were in pain and I still yelled at you; I just needed a few minutes to calm myself down. I was actually on my way back when you called." Amy sighed as she made her way over to slump in the chair next to his bed. "I'm not doing this because of the stupid clause in the agreement, I'm doing it because **I **care about **you**."

"Thank you, Amy." Sheldon tentatively stretched out his slender right hand until his fingertips were just grazing Amy's hand, and she moved her fingers up slightly so that their forefingers lightly entwined. "You ordered me Thai food."

"Of course, it is Monday night after all." Amy smiled over at Sheldon who was beginning to look like the painkillers were finally kicking in, the lines of tension around his eyes and mouth slowly easing away.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, how about a quick version of the elements game before it arrives? Oxygen…"

"Nitrogen." Sheldon quickly countered.

"Nickel."

"Lanthanum."

"Magnesium."

"Manganese."

They were interrupted by the arrival of Sheldon's evening meal, and Amy cleared off a space on his lap tray so that the plate could be set down. She removed the domed lid and they both sniffed in appreciation as the tantalising aroma from the Mee Krob rose up to assault their nostrils.

"Amy, would you mind helping me?" Sheldon asked quietly, "I don't think that I am going to be able to use the chopsticks."

"Of course, Sheldon. That's what I'm here for. What if I cut it into small pieces and then you can use a fork to feed yourself?"

"Thank you." Sheldon accepted her offer and watched as Amy cut the meal into manageable sections. "Aren't you eating?" He asked as he awkwardly clutched the fork in his left hand, being right handed he was having a little trouble forcing the left to co-operate.

"I've got some snack packs in my purse, I'll crack one open a little later." Amy patted the strap of her purse and turned her attention away from Sheldon to check her phone. "Oh, I've got a message from Leonard…" She scrolled through the message and read the contents. "Mmm, he says he's sorry you got hurt and Penny sends you her love."

"That's it? No declarations of their intent to rush home to be by my side?" Sheldon paused in his eating and looked over in surprise at the scanty message.

"Nope, sorry." Amy shut her screen down and placed the phone back into her purse. She sat back down in the armchair and flicked through a neurology magazine that she had stashed away for a rainy day. Sheldon turned his attention back to his meal and finally pushed his plate away with a light sigh.

"I'm feeling a little sleepy, Amy. Do you mind if we turn off the light so that I can get some rest?"

"Of course not, Sheldon. Here, is that better?" Amy clicked the switch near the bed and the overhead lights dimmed, leaving only a narrow strip of light showing under the door.

"Perfect." Sheldon laid his head back against the pillow and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the fact that the sheets were scratchy and the mattress under him was coated in plastic and not the orthopaedic mattress on his bed at home. Long moments passed, and Amy was almost certain that he had fallen asleep until his quiet voice reached out to her in the darkness. "Amy, sing 'Soft Kitty' to me." She had been waiting all afternoon for him to ask and she smiled to herself as she reached over to take Sheldon's hand in hers.

"Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur…" Sheldon smiled happily as Amy's soothingly low voice let him pass into a warm fuzz of contentment allowing him to drift off into a peaceful sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Things weren't so content when the surgeon made his rounds the next day, he had checked Sheldon's incisions carefully and declared him ready for release. Sheldon was quite pleased with the news, until he found out that there were no male nurses on duty and that the surgeon was not prepared to stay behind and assist him in getting dressed. Sheldon was still muttering under his breath as he and Amy waited for his discharge papers.

"Disgraceful…"

"Sorry, Sheldon?" Amy looked over from where she was checking that all of her belongings were safely stored away in her purse.

"I said that it is disgraceful, I don't want those nurses pawing at me in my delicate state."

"You can't get dressed by yourself, Sheldon. Either you let one of the nurse's dress you or we leave here in your pyjamas."

"Why can't you help me?" Sheldon's surprising question had Amy spinning around in her chair, mouth gaping open but no words forming. "I helped you when you were sick, it's only fair that you return the favour. You don't even have to bath me…not now anyway, just help me out of these pyjamas and into my clothes so that we can both escape from this cesspit of disease."

"Hoo…" Amy was stuck on the 'not yet,' part of his statement – which suggested to her that Sheldon might be most amenable to receiving a hand in the bath at a later stage! She shook her head lightly to clear it from the scandalous thoughts that were forming and reached over to grasp Sheldon's bag.

"Okay, then…exactly how do we do this?" She frowned as she saw the form fitting t-shirts in his bag and shook her head at the thought of inadvertently causing him pain. "What about if we put your pyjama top on over the top of your sling? I think it's large enough to be able to button it over the top…I don't want to hurt your arm by trying to get it out of the cast."

"Excuse me, but Doctor Benson said that you might need some assistance in getting dressed?" Anna, the APRN from the previous evening peered her head around the door and saw Amy trying to figure out how to get Sheldon dressed without hurting him. She crossed over to the bed and gently prised the t-shirts out of Amy's hand. "Leave those, let me show you how to do this properly." She reached up to loosen the Velcro strap fastening Sheldon's sling to his torso. "Doctor Cooper, I want you to place your right hand underneath your left elbow to take the weight while I remove the sling completely." Sheldon nodded and couldn't help but let out a little hiss of pain between his teeth as his arm hit the bruising on his torso. "Doctor Fowler, pass me Doctor Cooper's button up shirt please? Now you want to avoid too much movement, so I would suggest a few shirts like this pyjama top, something that will slip around his shoulders that you can just pull into place. Now, Doctor Cooper I'm going to place my hand over yours, and I want you to slip your right hand out and into the sleeve of your shirt…ready?" They made the exchange swiftly and Sheldon shrugged his right arm into the waiting sleeve. Anna swiftly tugged the left sleeve around his shoulder and keeping her hand in place until the very last minute, carefully manoeuvred his arm through the sleeve. By the time she had fastened the Velcro straps back around his neck and torso, there were tiny beads of sweat forming on Sheldon's brow.

"It will get easier over the next few days, just remember to try and keep it supported with your other hand when it's out of the sling and you should be fine. I'll leave you to deal with the rest, give me a shout when you're done and I'll have your papers ready." Anna smiled and left Amy to divest Sheldon of his pyjama pants. She turned away as Sheldon wrestled them over his buttocks and to his knees and only turned back when Sheldon cleared his throat.

"Um…I can't seem to get them down any further." Amy's face was scarlet by the time she had removed them completely and had handed Sheldon a clean pair of underpants. She wrapped his dirty briefs in his pyjamas and placed them back in his bag. Pulling out his spare cargo pants she got them pulled up to his knees and flushed again as she turned away so that Sheldon could pull them up over his hips.

"Um…I can't do the button up with my left hand, I've done the zipper though…" Sheldon's face was equally red as he realised that he couldn't fasten his trousers completely without assistance from Amy, she took a deep breath and leant forward to do up the button.

"Sorry." She murmured as her cool fingers brushed his abdomen as she fastened it correctly, she felt Sheldon's muscles quiver under her touch and looked away quickly as he sat up on the bed.

"I guess we're just going to have to get used to it…" Sheldon responded finally as he swung his legs around on the bed, searching for his shoes.

"Here." Amy held out his sneakers and helped with the laces. "There, all done. Let's blow this pop stand!"

"Indeed." Sheldon agreed as he cautiously rose to his feet, a little unsteady from where he had been lying down for the past twenty four hours.

"You okay there?" Amy reached out a hand to steady him, and grabbed his messenger bag and her purse from the chair as they made their way slowly out of the room.

"Doctor Cooper, it is hospital policy that you leave in a wheelchair; if you could just sign…" When Sheldon frowned at the pen and scowled at the presented wheelchair, Anna smiled in understanding. "Ah, your dominant hand…Perhaps, Doctor Fowler should sign your discharge papers, she was the one that signed your consent forms." Anna passed the paperwork across to Amy who quickly scrawled her signature where needed and gathered up the insurance forms to slip into Sheldon's bag. "You have an appointment at the clinic in ten days' time, when Doctor Benson will remove your stiches and replace your cast. Please try not to get your wound or cast wet, and remember to keep it in that support at all times." Anna reminded Sheldon of everything they had discussed and he reluctantly took a seat in the wheelchair as Amy pushed him along the corridor and down in the elevator.

"Wait here for a moment and I'll bring the car around." Amy left Sheldon sitting in the lobby as she dashed outside to retrieve her car. Within a few minutes she returned and Sheldon walked slowly out into the California sunlight with her. Half an hour later, they had arrived back at the apartment and that's when the real fun began…


	5. Chapter 5

"Must you persist in using a riding crop on a clearly deceased equine?"  
>"I think you mean 'flogging a dead horse'." Amy retorted back drolly as she continued to fight for equal rights to the remote control. "May I remind you that in the 48 hours that I've been taking care of you, not once have I asked you to deviate for your normal routine. Now there is a documentary on the National Geographic Channel that I was hoping to be able to watch this evening, if you insist on watching yet another of your classic Star Trek episodes, you will leave me no other choice but to return back to my own apartment for the night – Penny hasn't paid her cable bill in months."<p>

"Oh, very well; but I want to watch all three of the original Star Wars trilogy tomorrow…" Sheldon reluctantly agreed as he shifted a little in his seat, trying to ignore the ache in his arm.

"Do you need another painkiller?" Amy asked after hearing Sheldon sigh heavily for the third time in the space of a few minutes.

"No, it just aches a little." Sheldon sighed again as he looked at the vast amount of space in between them on the couch, Amy had chosen to sit way over at the far end as she didn't want to jar his arm by sitting too close; and now Sheldon was missing the way that she would curl up against his side and lean against his shoulder. "I think we should change places." He announced suddenly and Amy looked up in surprise.

"Leave your spot? Why?"

"Don't argue, just swap places with me…please, Amy?" Sheldon got up from his spot and waited for Amy to shuffle over. He sat down in Leonard's usual seat and placed a cushion between his sling and the arm of the couch. Sheldon looked over at Amy sitting way over at the other end and raised his right arm. "Come on, then."

"Oh…" Amy's brow raised up slightly as she caught on to why Sheldon wanted to swap places. She scooted over until she was resting lightly at his side, ensuring that she didn't press against his bruises. Sheldon let his arm fall lightly onto her shoulder and pressed her a little closer, another sigh left his lips, but this time it was a little more contented. Amy was almost certain that she heard him mutter something like 'That's better,' but Sheldon denied saying anything at all and urged her to pay attention to the documentary instead.

It had been a learning curve for both of them over the last couple of days, Amy had learnt that Sheldon had a very strict bathroom schedule that even a broken arm couldn't get him away from, and as a result she was having to help Sheldon bathe twice a day at seven am and nine pm precisely. Sheldon insisted on keeping his underwear on whilst bathing and after that sneak peek when he had first had his accident, Amy was all too happy to agree. Lord knows what she might have done if Sheldon had insisted otherwise, Gerard was getting far too much of a workout as it was!

They'd managed to pare Sheldon's dressing time to a mere fifteen minutes, which was a vast improvement from their first night's attempt which left Amy in tears as she inadvertently dropped Sheldon's arm too quickly and left Sheldon biting back tears of his own at the pain that radiated throughout his whole body. She'd sung him 'Soft Kitty' again as an apology and now he made her sing it every time he dressed or undressed, to keep them both calm. They'd had their little disagreements, like choosing that night's entertainment but on the whole things were going rather well, their routines seemed to blend almost seamlessly and it was as if Amy had always been there.

"I'm going for a bath, do you want anything before I disappear?" Amy carefully extracted herself from under Sheldon's arm, and he blinked in surprise as he realised that the documentary had long since finished and he'd been sitting there lost in peaceful silence for quite a while.

"No, thank you. I'll wait for you to finish…I think I'll skip my shower tonight, I'm feeling rather tired." Sheldon yawned loudly and shifted position on the couch.

"Do you want me to help you into bed before I hit the bath?" Amy offered, and Sheldon gave her one of his lopsided smiles as he nodded his acceptance. Amy leant down to offer him a hand getting to his feet, they strolled down the hallway side by side and Sheldon was soon snuggled down under his comforter listening to Amy running her bath.

"Amy?" He called out suddenly and Amy opened his bedroom door to peer around the corner.

"You rang?"

"Could you…um…"Sheldon twisted his fingers in the comforter and looked over at her nervously. "Could you leave the doors open while you're taking your bath? Just so that we can talk?"

"Sure, Sheldon." Amy left his door ajar and went back into the bathroom where she left that door open as well. "How's this? Can you hear me okay?"  
>"Fine, thank you. What should we talk about?"<p>

"I don't know, this was your idea remember?" Amy started to undress, folding each item of clothing carefully and setting them down in the laundry hamper; she knew that Sheldon had his own hamper in his bedroom as he disliked the idea of anyone else's soiled clothing coming into contact with his. She eased herself down into the aromatic bubbles and let out a wistful sigh.

"Amy? Are you okay? That sounded like a hurt kind of noise, do you need me to come in there?" Sheldon rustled his bedcovers, preparing to rush to her rescue if she needed him.

"No, I'm fine. It was a 'oh, that's nice' kind of noise. The warm water is very relaxing." Amy called back and Sheldon settled back against the pillows, feeling a little disappointed.

"Oh…that was a very nice meal that you prepared for us earlier. I must say I haven't missed going out at all…yesterday we would have normally gone to the Cheesecake Factory, but you made that great chicken pot pie and tonight we had lasagne…yummy!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Amy replied as she ran the washcloth over her arms and legs.

"Sorry? What was that?" Sheldon couldn't quite catch her softly spoken responses and so threw back the covers and slid his feet into his slippers.

"I said…"

"Never mind…I'm coming in." Sheldon appeared in the doorway of the bathroom and sat down on the closed lid of the toilet seat. "That's better. I can hear you properly now and can ensure that you don't come to any harm due to the displacement of the adhesive ducks. Now, what did you say?"

"Um…" Amy slid a little lower under the bubbles and tried to get her thoughts back to their conversation. "Oh, that I'm glad you enjoyed it. I need to get some groceries tomorrow so have a think about what you would like to eat. I was thinking of making a pot of vegetable soup up for lunch but haven't really thought about dinner."

"Mmm…what about a nice chicken Caesar salad? If I helped you make some croutons to go with the soup, we could toss some over the salad later on."

"That does sound lovely, but when you say 'help'…"

"I mean, supervise naturally." Sheldon lifted his arm a little and shrugged slightly. "I'm sure between the two of us, we can crank out a batch of homemade croutons…we are scientists after all."

"Hmm…" Amy merely sighed in response and leant her head back against the rim of the bath.

"You're not falling asleep over there, are you?" Sheldon leant a little closer and Amy opened her eyes slightly.

"Not now, I'm not."

"Good, because that's how accidents happen. I think it's time you got yourself dried off and into bed." Sheldon motioned for her to drain out the bathtub and remained seated on the toilet. "What?"

"I'm waiting for you to leave so that I can get out of the bath." Amy explained patiently and Sheldon sighed as he rose to his feet.

"It's not as if I haven't seen you naked before…and before you say you were sick, I think we both know that you were only faking it." He shuffled slowly toward the door, feet dragging as he deliberately kept at a snail's pace.

"Sheldon…." Amy warned low and he grimaced a little at being found out.

"Okay, I'm going." He waved over his shoulder and Amy heard his footsteps moving off down the hall. She rose up out of the bathwater and it was only then that she realised that Sheldon had deliberately removed the towel from the rack, as she had checked there was a clean one available before running her bath.

"Sheldon!" She yelled down the corridor and all she heard was Sheldon's chuckle as his hand slipped around the edge of the door, dangling the towel just out of reach. "Give me that towel…"

"What's the magic word?"

"Well in my world that would be 'please', but goodness knows what the magic word is in your cracked up universe." Amy shivered a little as the warm steam from the bath was quickly dissipating due to the doors being left open. Sheldon thrust his hand in a little further and Amy grabbed the towel to wrap it around her body.

"Sorry Amy, I just wanted to have a little fun…" Sheldon sounded like a young boy being scolded by his mother.

"Don't worry about it, go on back to bed and I'll bring you in some warm milk as soon as I've changed into my pyjamas."

"Okay." Sheldon shuffled back down the corridor and Amy heard his bedcovers rustling as he climbed back in and made himself comfortable. She towelled herself dry and quickly pulled on her pyjamas. They were a pale pink and lilac plaid set that were very similar in style to the ones favoured by Sheldon, she'd only recently made the change from wearing her granny gowns in bed and found that she slept more comfortably without fighting to stop the gowns riding up and twisting around her hips in the night.

Amy quickly warmed two mugs of milk in the microwave and carried them carefully into Sheldon's room. "Here you go." She set one of the mugs down on his bedside table and turned to leave the room.

"Wait! You can sit here with me for a while…if you want to?" Sheldon patted the empty space by the side of him and then realised that Amy would be pressed against his injured side. He shifted over on the bed to make room for her on his left side and patted the bed in invitation.

"Okay, just for a little while." Amy agreed and climbed up to make herself comfortable at his side.

"Would you like to watch a little tv?" Sheldon suggested and leant over to pluck the remote control from his top drawer. He flicked it on and started scrolling through the channels. "Mmm…how about a little re-run of 'Castle', you said it was a series that you watched on occasion?"

"Alright, but just the one episode." Amy propped a cushion behind her and settled in to watch, cradling her mug in her hands. Sheldon scooted up so that he was leaning against the headboard and Amy nestled in under his arm, seeking out her natural resting position. Three episodes later, she had fallen asleep and Sheldon carefully removed her glasses and set them down gently on the nightstand. He eased the comforter over her legs and Amy's head flopped down from his shoulder to rest on his pillow, she murmured in her sleep and Sheldon gently stroked her hair.

"Ssh…just go back to sleep." He made himself comfortable on his back and moved position slightly, unused to sleeping on that side of the bed, before he could move again; Amy had thrown one arm around his waist and was pressing her face against his neck. "Mmm…that's going to take a bit of getting used to." Before he could even process what it was that he was feeling, Sheldon felt himself going under and slipped into the dark caverns of sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Just a little warning ahead of this chapter; I don't hate Penny per se but I do feel that she sometimes likes to be in the centre of attention a little too much...so sorry, but not really sorry to all the Penny fans out there.**

Sheldon shifted over in bed and his arm flopped to the side seeking the warmth of his night time companion. His eyes flickered under his closed eyelids as he registered that the person he was waking up next to definitely wasn't who he was expecting…

"Morning, sunshine."

"Leonard, what are you doing in my room? No one is allowed in my room." Sheldon muttered sleepily, opening his eyes to see his former roommate lying next to him on the bed.

"Unless she's a petite brunette that favours denim skirts and striped cardigans you mean." Leonard remarked and waited for Sheldon's snarky comment, he rolled over to see that Sheldon was cradling his right arm with his left and was obviously experiencing a considerable amount of pain.

"What time is it?" Sheldon lifted himself up slightly to peer blearily at the clock on the nightstand. "Ten o'clock? I'm overdue for my pain medication, why didn't Amy wake me at eight like she was supposed to?"

"Amy's not here, Sheldon."

"What?"

"Penny and I got back early from our trip, we were worried about how you were coping…you know with bathing and stuff…" Leonard gestured over to where Sheldon's clothes had been separated out into piles of suitable clothing for easy access. "We let ourselves in when Amy was making breakfast, Penny told her that she could go home now that we were here to take care of you."

"Did she not leave a note? Or list of instructions for my care?" Sheldon sat up in bed, staring at Leonard in horror. Everything was ruined, he had been having such a lovely time with Amy and now Penny had discarded her like a wrapping from a cheeseburger.

"I don't know buddy, we were pretty wrecked from the flight so we crashed in my old room. I didn't even hear Amy leave, I was so tired. I woke up about ten minutes ago and came in to check on you. Let me see if she's left anything in the kitchen, be right back." Leonard jumped off the bed, causing it to shake and the reverberations ran through Sheldon's aching arm, intensifying the pain.

"My pills first please, Leonard. I need an antibiotic and two pain capsules, they are on the counter next to the refrigerator." Sheldon hissed a little in pain as Leonard ran down the hallway and skidded to a stop in the kitchen. He scanned his eyes over the bottles on the counter and plucked the correct dosage out of the container and placed them in the plastic cup next to them.

"Sheldon, you want juice or water with these?"

"Juice please, Leonard. There's no need to shout, it's not that large an apartment." Sheldon's pain wracked voice coming from just behind him, made Leonard almost spill the pills out over the side.

"Jeez, Sheldon! A little warning next time, please."

"Sorry, I was just anxious to see whether Amy had left me a note or anything…" Sheldon glanced around the neat kitchen but there were no outward signs of Amy left in the apartment at all. "I guess not."

"Sheldon, I'm sure she will contact you later today; she looked a little tired this morning and was probably desperate to get some rest." Leonard passed Sheldon the cup containing his pills and a small glass of juice. Sheldon threw back the pills and swallowed the juice down, grimacing at the aftertaste.

"Moonpie! Oh, it's so good to see you again!" Penny stumbled into the kitchen and threw her arms around Sheldon, giving him a lengthy hug.

"Aargh!" Sheldon cried out in agony as Penny crushed his arm between their bodies and he wrenched himself backwards. "Good Lord, woman – you're not back five minutes and you're already trying to kill me!" Sheldon held out his good hand in warning when Penny attempted to apologise. "Keep your distance, woman. I already have two pins holding my shattered bones together, I have no need for any more!"

"Sheldon…I'm sorry, I forgot." Penny hung her head a little in shame, she had been so overwhelmed to see Sheldon looking so normal that it was only when he pulled back from her that she noticed the stitches across his temple and the way his right arm was strapped against his chest. "Are you hurting anywhere else?"

"I have multiple contusions to my torso and abdomen, no doubt where I twisted in an effort to save myself from falling. A pin holds my right radius in place and another in my ulna. I did have a slight concussion for the first day but that quickly disappeared, no doubt due to the diligent efforts of my girlfriend, whom I understand you sent home?" Sheldon recited his injury list in a matter of fact manner and so when he casually mentioned the way that Penny had dismissed Amy, she failed to note the way his voice lowered to nearly a growl at the end. It was only when Leonard coughed to catch her attention that she looked up to see Sheldon's steely blue gazed fixed on her face.

"Well, I just thought that now we were back…I could…I mean…Leonard could help you and she could get back to work…"

"Leonard is no longer my roommate and so is no longer bound by the Boo boos and ouchies clause…Amy is my emergency contact and has been for the past two years. What if I had another fall in the shower? Neither of you would be able to sign my emergency consent forms; only Amy." Sheldon kept his voice deliberately neutral as he made his feelings on the matter quite clear. "You had no right to just come in here and shoo her out of the door the way that you did. I'm very disappointed in you both, you most of all Penny, I thought you were supposed to be Amy's friend?"

"I am." Penny protested, and Sheldon dismissed her notion with a flick of his hand.

"Pish posh!" He looked over at Leonard, "Leonard, would you mind carrying my laptop into my room for me please? I need to contact Amy to make sure that she is not in any distress this morning. Goodness knows what she might be thinking, falling asleep in my bed last night only to be kicked out of the apartment by some Nebraskan farm girl this morning…"

"Wait…falling asleep in your bed?" Leonard hurried after Sheldon, laptop in hand and desperate for more details. He waved at Penny to stay behind and she reluctantly sat down in the armchair.

"You heard me, Leonard. We've gotten along remarkably well over these past three days, she stayed by my bedside the entire time I was in hospital and since we've been home, she's helped me bathe, get dressed and has been feeding me the most delicious home cooked meals. We've not had a single takeaway the whole time she was here."

"You let her bathe you?" Leonard was gobsmacked, he literally had stopped listening after that first remark – his brain remained focused on that one statement.

"Only fair, I bathed her when she was sick…Last night was one of the best nights of my life and we didn't even do anything! We had a nice meal of lasagne, I moved to your end of the couch so that Amy could sit under my shoulder…later on I sat on the toilet seat whilst Amy had a bath and we just sat and talked about what we were going to make for dinner tonight. Then she brought in a couple of mugs of warm milk and we lay down to watch a few episodes of 'Castle' before she fell asleep. It was just nice and comfortable and felt…"

"Felt kinda right though, didn't it?" Leonard made a complete shot in the dark and was amazed when Sheldon actually agreed with him.

"Yeah, it really did." Sheldon sighed as he sat on the edge of his bed and looked at his arm in the sling. "Sometimes the worst of times can lead to the best of times…"

"So, no take-outs at all? What were you gonna make for dinner tonight?" Leonard crossed over to where Sheldon's clothes were stacked on the dresser and selected a pair of pants and shirt.

"We were going to make home-made croutons together and serve them with vegetable soup for lunch and a delicious chicken Caesar salad for dinner. She made chicken pot pie on Tuesday, and lasagne last night; there really was no need for take outs at all. I was hoping for prime rib once we had been grocery shopping." Sheldon sighed wistfully and even Leonard gave a little sigh of his own at the thought of the delicious food that Sheldon had enjoyed.

"Prime rib, huh? Gravy and mashed potatoes?"

"Barbeque sauce and onion rings." Sheldon corrected and Leonard's stomach gave out a little growl.

"Sorry, but that sounds really great. The food was pretty dreadful at the hotel and we've been eating a lot of takeout ourselves. Why don't you give Amy a call and see if she wants to come back? I'll even pay for the groceries if she promises to feed me at least one decent meal."

"I'm not sure whether she will even want to come back after the way Penny treated her this morning. I will try though, please excuse me."

"Sure, give me a shot when you want a hand getting dressed and I'll come and give you a hand. Remember, money's no object if I can get a couple of hearty meals."

"You have Penny for that now, Leonard."

"Sheldon, I believe the words 'decent' and 'hearty' were in there somewhere; I don't think Ramen noodles count as either of those." Leonard grinned as he closed Sheldon's door behind him and stood just outside to listen in on the conversation.

"Good morning, Sheldon. I see that you are not dressed yet, is there a problem?" Amy frowned as she connected the call from Sheldon only to see him sitting in his bedroom still in his pyjamas.

"Utter chaos, Amy. Those two interlopers went back to bed after they callously showed you the door; therefore I was two hours late for my antibiotics and pain medication and feel utterly dreadful; Penny tried to kill me by squeezing me half to death... But never mind all that, how are you?"

"I beg your pardon?" Amy was shocked at the way Sheldon carelessly dismissed his schedule and seemed focused on ensuring that she was alright…it seemed there was something good to be had regarding 'morning afters' after all!

"Penny told me how she treated you this morning, and I was worried about you."

"Oh, Sheldon… I was a little upset first thing, I admit; but I'm fine now. Look…" Amy turned her monitor so that Sheldon could see her kitchen counter. "I'm making your soup! I was going to drop it off a little later this morning when I drop Penny's keys back into her… no croutons, I'm afraid."

"Is it nearly ready?" Sheldon bounced a little in excitement and then stopped when it jostled his arm too much.

"It's done, I was just about to transfer it into my crockpot when you called. You can leave it in there and keep it warm or transfer it to separate containers and freeze it." Amy dropped her gaze a little, "I guess you'll be having Pizza tonight with Leonard and Penny…"

"Well…that's what I wanted to talk to you about as well…Leonard heard me bragging about the delicious meals we've been eating lately and well…Oh darn it, Amy! I want you to come back! I don't want Leonard or Penny helping me bathe or get dressed…I only want you, please say you'll come back! Amy? Amy?"


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Apologies again for Sheldon's rant at poor Penny...but I have to say she really deserves it in this chapter; I'd say save your tears for the one who really deserves them? Anyone have a spare room for Leonard tonight?**

"_Oh darn it, Amy! I want you to come back! I don't want Leonard or Penny helping me bathe or get dressed…I only want you, please say you'll come back! Amy? Amy?" _

Sheldon called out to the empty screen and suddenly Amy's face came back into view and Sheldon could see that she was pulling on her jacket whilst transferring the soup to the crockpot.

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes…with soup!" Amy disconnected the call and Sheldon gave a sigh of happiness. From the other side of the door, Leonard fist pumped the air before realising that Sheldon had neglected to ask Amy whether she would be prepared to cook for everyone.

"Leonard! Leonard!" Sheldon called out from within his bedroom and Leonard counted to five before opening the door to step inside.

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Amy's coming back! You and Penny can feel free to get on with whatever you need to do…"

"Did you ask her about the groceries?" Leonard asked, already knowing what the answer was going to be.

"Sorry, didn't get a chance…I was too busy apologising for your girlfriend's behaviour."

"Fiancee." Leonard corrected as he removed the laptop from Sheldon's lap and gestured over to the clothes. "So, shower first?"

"Of course, if you could just help me out of the sling and my pyjama top I can manage the rest on my own." Leonard's hands went to the top button on Sheldon's top only to find them batted away. "Not here, Leonard! Wait until we get into the bathroom, Penny could wander along the hallway at any moment and see me half naked!"

"Sorry, Sheldon." Leonard muttered as he gathered the clean button down shirt and pants from the dresser and selected socks and briefs from the drawer. "I can't believe you didn't mention anything about dinner." He grumbled as he followed Sheldon along to the bathroom and got the shower going.

"What's that sweetie? Did you mention something about dinner? It's Pizza night isn't it?" Penny sauntered down the hallway and leant against the doorframe of the bathroom. Sheldon's shoulder jerked in an 'I told you, so' manner and Leonard shrugged.

"It may be for you and me, but Sheldon has other plans."

"Really, like what?"

"Home-made vegetable soup for lunch and chicken Caesar salad for dinner tonight, prime rib with barbeque sauce and onion rings tomorrow and something equally delicious on Saturday."

"Mmm, sounds yummy." Penny agreed already feeling her taste buds tingling at the thought. "Wait a minute, you mean we're not invited? How come?"

"Perhaps it has something to do with making Amy feel like a discarded cheeseburger wrapper? Or the fact that Sheldon was having a lovely time with his girlfriend, on their sleepover? Who knows?" Leonard gestured for Sheldon to step forward so that he could undo the Velcro fastening on his neck. Sheldon automatically cradled his right elbow with his left hand and jerked his head toward the door. Leonard moved sideways and firmly closed the door, shutting Penny out in the hallway.

"Discarded cheeseburger wrapper? What the heck?" She was still trying to decipher Leonard's cryptic statement when there was a knock on the front door. Leonard poked his head out of the bathroom. "If that's Amy, Sheldon says can she come straight through…apparently I suck as a nurse and I've just set his recovery time back by a couple of weeks."

"Don't worry, Sheldon, I'm here." Amy called out as she passed the crockpot to Penny. "Here, take this and set it on 'warm'."

"Warm, okay I can do that. Wait, where's warm?" Penny called out as she examined the front of the pot. Leonard passed Amy in the hallway and patted her shoulder in passing. "I've got Penny if you take care of Sheldon. I'd like to have a chat once you've finished, I've got something to ask you."

"Okay." Amy agreed and stepped into the steamy bathroom where she saw Sheldon sitting on the closed lid of the toilet, pasty white with pain. "Oh, Sheldon! What happened?"

"Leonard tried to yank my arm out of my sleeve too fast and he wasn't holding onto my elbow. It just jolted against my ribs and I felt a little faint. Boy, am I glad you agreed to come back – I think I might have landed myself back in intensive care if I let the two of them take care of me." Sheldon leant his head against Amy's soothing touch and let her ease his worries.

"Come on, Aquaman…let's get this cast all wrapped up and then you can take a soothing shower. You'll feel much better once you're clean and dressed."

"Thank you, Amy." Sheldon dropped a quick peck on her forehead and Amy hid a smile as she leant over to grab the plastic food wrap from under the sink. She wrapped a couple of layers carefully around Sheldon's arm and helped him remove his pyjama pants. Holding him securely around the waist, she helped him step over the bath rim and drew the curtain closed. A few seconds later, Sheldon thrust his hand around the curtain, dangling his dirty briefs from one finger.

"Hoo…" Amy cooed under her breath as she took the briefs from Sheldon and placed them in the pile containing his dirty pyjamas. Sheldon grinned behind the curtain, his sensitive ears picking up on her involuntary reaction to him removing his underwear in her presence.

"Sheldon, do you know why Leonard wants to talk to me about?" Amy asked suddenly from where she perched on the closed lid of the toilet. Sheldon peeked his head out from behind the curtain and winked at her.

"Maybe I do, and maybe I don't. It **might** have something to do with the fact that I have a girlfriend that can actually cook whereas he has a fiancée that can apparently ruin Ramen noodles by simply emptying them into the pan." Sheldon ducked his head back under the shower and then back out again just as quickly, holding out the shampoo bottle in his hand. Amy took the bottle, and squeezed a small amount into the palm of his hand and Sheldon rubbed it in one handed and then rinsed under the shower head. They repeated the same action with the conditioner for his hair and the liquid soap on the sponge; both comfortable in the routine they had established over the last couple of days. Amy was waiting by the curtain as soon as she heard the shower switch off, she averted her gaze as Sheldon moved the curtain back and simply held out the fluffy towel in readiness.

"Okay, I'm ready." Sheldon gave himself a cursory rub down the best he could, and held the towel over his groin as Amy drew his briefs up as far as his knees before turning her back so that he could pull them into place. Once they were on, Sheldon sat on the toilet seat as Amy knelt at his feet to dry him off completely.

"So, you thing Leonard is angling for an invitation to have dinner with us?" She remarked as she moved the towel up to carefully dry his chest and arms.

"Hmm…" Sheldon murmured, not wanting to interrupt the happy feeling that he got whenever Amy rubbed the fluffy towel over his body. It made him feel warm and safe, like she was enfolding him in her own warm embrace – something that he had experienced first-hand the night before and was looking forward to repeating the experience very soon. He opened one eye when Amy stopped drying him off, and realised that she was waiting for him to pull up his pants so that she could fasten his button. "Oh, sorry…drifted off for a moment."

"Uh-huh…" Amy nodded as she unwrapped his cast and checked it for any signs of water damage. "Hey, we're getting almost expert at this! Look, no water spots at all." In a carefully choreographed manoeuvre together they got Sheldon's upper half dressed and his arm back in his sling without even the slightest grimace of pain. She knelt at his feet again to pull on his socks, before Sheldon slid his feet into his slippers and crossed over to the mirror to run a comb through his hair.

"I need a shave soon, I'm starting to look like a hippy."

"I quite like it actually, that slight shadowing along your jawline…" Amy stepped up behind him and reached up to run a hand along his jaw, loving the feel of the slight stubble beneath her fingertips. "Mmm…very nice. I'm not saying that you should actually grow a beard or anything, but it wouldn't be the worst thing if you didn't shave for another couple of days…" Sheldon looked at himself in the mirror again and turned away with a slight shrug.

"Okay, if you like it, then I'll leave it…just for a couple more days though." He placed his hand against his stomach and felt a gurgle. "I didn't get breakfast with all of the drama that happened this morning, I've just realised that I had my pills on an empty stomach and I think it's protesting a little bit."

"Well, it's nearly half past eleven now." Amy stated as she checked her watch. "How about a bowl of soup and some crusty French bread for brunch instead?"

"Ordinarily I would sniff in distain at such a notion, but as I've been salivating over the thought of that soup all night…I guess I could make an exception, just this once." Sheldon grinned over at Amy as she shooed him out of the bathroom and into the kitchen…where they found Penny had already helped herself to a bowl of soup and was making inroads into the loaf of bread.

"God, this is sooo good Amy!" Penny spoke as she spooned up another mouthful of the warm soup. Leonard glanced up with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, guys she was like a bloodhound and I couldn't tear her away. I'm sorry, I tried to tell her it was Sheldon's but she just wouldn't listen. It was like it was enchanted or something and I couldn't get her away."

"Don't worry about it, Leonard. I made plenty." Amy stated as she walked across to take down three bowls out of the cupboard.

"She's already eaten her way through two full bowls, that's her third. Don't worry about me, just make sure that Sheldon gets some, it smells great."

"You…you…Neanderthal!" Sheldon was fuming, this was supposed to be his special soup, lovingly prepared for him by his girlfriend and here was his former roommate and his fiancée liberally helping themselves to most of the pot!"

"Calm down, Moonpie…there's plenty left for the two of you…It's only a pot of soup for cryin' out loud!" Penny ignored Leonard's shaking head of dismay as he rose carefully from his stool and edged himself away from the counter and gestured for Amy to follow him. Sheldon slammed the clenched fist of his left hand down on the counter so hard that it made the bowls rattle.

"Only a pot of soup! Penny, did it even occur to you the length of time that it would have taken for Amy to lovingly prepare the vegetables for the soup and then to add just the right amount of flavouring so that the spices enhance rather than overwhelm the natural taste of the vegetables. No? I didn't think so…that's it Penny! No more, until you can prove to me that you are sufficiently evolved to warrant an invitation you are henceforth barred from my apartment!" Sheldon pointed toward the front door and Penny stood gaping at him until he nudged her forward. "Out!"

"Leonard, are you going to let him talk to me like that?"

"I did try to warn you, Penny, but you chose not to listen. This one's all on you, sweetheart. I need to speak with Amy for a little while, I'll see you shortly." Leonard threw the remark over his shoulder and continued to speak quietly with Amy who was nodding and smiling in his direction.

"Leonard!" Penny stomped her foot and stormed across the hall to her apartment, Sheldon closed his door behind her and twisted the lock in place so that she couldn't just let herself back in.

"That sounds fine, Leonard; but what about Penny?" Amy agreed to include Leonard in all of her meal plans for the next couple of nights but was worried about how it would affect Penny.

"She's got plenty of Ramen packets over there, she'll be fine…It might teach her a lesson in manners for the future. Thanks again, Amy. I'll pick you up in a couple of hours and we'll hit the stores."

"Okay, see you then. Oh, before I forget!" Amy handed Leonard the spare key to Penny's apartment and he slipped it into his pocket. Waving goodbye to Sheldon who had collapsed onto a stool at the counter, he let himself out of his former apartment and tried to open the door to Penny's but found the lock wouldn't turn in his hand.

"Penny? Come on, let me in."

"Go away! You picked Sheldon over me, now you can go back to your man cave and leave me alone!" Penny shouted out from inside her apartment and Leonard sighed.

"Penny, you were wrong to take Sheldon's soup…I mean, one bowl would have been bad enough, but three is just plain greedy!"

"So now you're saying I'm fat, too?" Penny's door suddenly flew open and Leonard was just about to step inside when he found himself with a bag stuffed with clothes instead. "Go away, Leonard!" And with that Penny slammed the door in his face once again. Leonard shuffled over to Sheldon's door and rapped lightly with his knuckles. Amy opened the door slightly and when she saw the bag in his arms, pulled him into the apartment.

"Come on in, and have some soup."

"Thanks, Amy; you're the best." Leonard set his bag down near the door and pulled Amy in for a brief hug, releasing her when Sheldon cleared his throat.

"Not for you, Leonard." He reminded his former and what looked like about to be current once again, roommate and turned his attention back to his soup. Amy poured out another bowl and nudged it over in Leonard's direction. "Eat up, it's really good." Sheldon urged as he dipped a piece of bread into his bowl, scraping up all of the dredges at the bottom. Leonard picked up his spoon and started to eat, murmuring his approval as he tasted his first mouthful.

"Oh, yeah… that hits the spot." Amy watched the two men enjoy the tasty meal and when they were both done offered them both a refill.

"Mmm, yummy…" Sheldon murmured as she filled his bowl halfway and did the same for Leonard. He frowned as he saw that she had emptied the pot with their refills, and her original bowl had only been half-filled from the first serving. "Amy, you didn't get anymore."

"It's okay, Sheldon. That was plenty for me, honestly." Amy rose from the stool to set her empty bowl in the sink. Sheldon pushed his own bowl closer to her.

"You can share mine if you'd like."

"I'm fine, Sheldon." Amy pushed the bowl back over in his direction and missed the startled look crossing Leonard's face as he wondered exactly how close the two of them had become over the last few days, Sheldon didn't voluntarily share his food with anyone; in fact when Penny had mistakenly touched one of his onion rings a few years ago, Sheldon had discarded the whole batch classing them as 'contaminated'.

"Please, Amy…just a little more."

"What if I just dipped my bread in instead?" Amy counter proposed and Sheldon grinned.

"That's my girl…always ready with an alternative! Proposal accepted. Please proceed." Leonard watched on in amazement as Sheldon and Amy smiled at each other their shared bowl of soup and wondered when it had all started to change? A short time later, Amy finished washing the dishes and Sheldon was just settling in on the couch to start his Star Wars marathon he edged over to Leonard's usual seat and frowned when Amy shook her head.

"Grocery shopping, remember?" His expression brightened as he recalled exactly why she needed to go shopping and Leonard reluctantly turned his head away from the tv and started to get up. "No need, Leonard. Enjoy your movies with Sheldon, I can take care of the shopping on my own. It's only something that I've been doing for years…"

"Here, take some money...please, it's the least I can do…and if you feel the need to slip some more of those vegetables in the cart at the same time, well, I wouldn't turn down another bowl or two of that soup." Leonard leant to one side to fish his wallet out of his back pocket and held out a wad of twenties.

"Seconded." Sheldon raised his right hand and winked over at Amy, who sighed and then smiled.

"Okay, anything else we need?"

"Red vines, please…and some more of that yummy bread."

"That yummy bread came out of my freezer, it was a loaf that I made a while ago…I guess I could pick up some flour and yeast…" Amy murmured as she scribbled a notation on her pad, failing to notice Leonard frantically mouthing something to Sheldon behind her back. Sheldon frowned at his roommate and both men managed to school their features into a bland expression as she looked over to say goodbye. "Okay, see you in a while…if you think of anything else just give me a call."

"Okey dokey." Leonard called out from the chair and as soon as the door closed behind her he leapt up onto the couch to kneel beside Sheldon, pressing his hands together in a prayer like pose.

"Leonard, what on earth?"

"Please, please, please don't do anything to screw things up with Amy. She's the best thing that's happened to us in years and I don't want you to lose her."

"Leonard, please; you're embarrassing yourself. What makes you think I would do anything to ruin things between us?" Sheldon turned his attention back to the television screen and tried to ignore Leonard's puppy dog eyes. He finally sighed and paused the movie so that he could turn around to look directly at his friend. "Okay, you have my complete attention, what's on your mind?"

"Sheldon, she makes soup from scratch! She tells you that the loaf of bread she brought over was from her freezer…you cannot let this woman get away from you! I haven't eaten that well since boarding school where we had a French chef! Seriously, buddy, you've got a winner with Amy, don't screw it up."

"I know, ain't she great?" Sheldon grinned over at Leonard and the two of them were soon chuckling over the thought of the great Sheldon Cooper capturing a marvel like Amy Farrah Fowler. "I have no intention of letting Amy 'get away' from me, Leonard, quite the opposite actually. I did a lot of soul searching while I was on my grand adventure and I came to the realisation that she's my 'one'. I was going to ask her to move in with me on a trial basis, but as things have gone so wonderfully this week, I scrapped that idea after the first couple of days…"

"So, you're not going to ask her to move in?" Leonard had a moment of excitement followed by the let-down of despair, he just didn't understand the workings of Sheldon's inner mind sometimes.

"Sure I am, just without the trial!" Sheldon grinned as he turned back to the movie and pressed play again. Leonard settled down next to his friend on the couch and they immersed themselves in the epic battle being played out on the screen.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I let the dinner chapter get a little out of hand, so I've split it into two parts, next one to follow immediately...**

Sheldon paused the movie once again as he heard the light tap on the front door to indicate that Amy had arrived home with the groceries. He rose up from the couch and pulled open the door to grab a couple of the bags out of her hand.

"Thanks, there's more in the car." Amy left another two bags just inside the door and Leonard got up to follow her down the stairs while Sheldon emptied out the bags and started packing it away.

"My, that's an awful lot of chicken." He noted that Amy had picked up several large packages of chicken breasts and wondered what she had planned for the rest. "I hope she's thinking fried chicken, yummy!"

"It never ceases to amaze me the way you can sometimes read my mind, Doctor Cooper." Amy caught his wistful expression as she walked through the door loaded down with bags of fresh produce. "Now, what kind of girlfriend would I be if I ignored my man's heritage? Of course I was thinking fried chicken, creamy gravy, I picked up green beans, corn and plenty of potatoes for mash."

"Oh man, my stomach's growling already." Leonard sighed as he hefted the last of the bags up onto the counter. "What day are you planning for that? I'll make sure to argue with Penny again to make her kick me out."

"Leonard, don't be silly. You paid for half of the groceries so you are welcome to join us whenever you feel like it…just give me enough notice that I can plan accordingly. I wouldn't want anything to go to waste."

"No, that would be sacrilege. Now, were you planning on biscuits with the fried chicken by any chance?" Leonard asked with a hopeful gleam in his eyes and did a little happy dance when she confirmed that she was indeed, thinking of making up a batch of biscuits to go with the chicken. He was even more amazed when Sheldon reached into the bag to pull out the package of ribs. "Oh my God, are you sure the two of you haven't performed a secret Mind Meld?"

"Sorry, what?" Amy stopped placing the vegetables in the crisper drawer to look over at Leonard.

"Sheldon, she got the prime rib! We were talking about it in the bathroom earlier, but we never got around to asking Amy!"

"Oooh! With the barbeque sauce and onion rings!"

"I was thinking mash potatoes and gravy…I don't know how to make a proper barbeque marinade."

"Well, this happens to be your lucky day! Good thing, we both know someone that hails from East Texas isn't it?" Sheldon nudged her with his shoulder and waggled his eyebrows.

"Sheldon, you know how to make barbeque sauce?" Leonard asked suspiciously, "How come you've never made it for me?"

"Leonard, I don't waste my talents on someone whose tastes runs to the quite frankly overly spiced end of the range. You have probably ruined most of your taste buds by insisting on ordering the hottest of takeaways regardless of their culture. I can make barbeque sauce, ketchup, a variety of fruit loaves and bread…Amy, tell him how good my sourdough is."

"It is true, Sheldon is a culinary chemist of the highest calibre. He could have been a chef if his talents ran in that direction."

"Aw, ain't she sweet?" Sheldon hugged Amy to his side and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. "You're the one that could have been the chef, not me."

"Thank you, Sheldon, but flattery is not necessary. I have already agreed to provide the meals for the remainder of the week."

"Not flattery, darlin' – God's honest truth." Sheldon was completely oblivious to the endearment that slipped naturally off his lips, Amy had heard it before but it was the first time that Leonard had witnessed even the slightest hint of a PDA between the pair and now he had a kiss and a term of affection…Leonard felt a sting of tears behind his eyes. He coughed a little to clear his throat.

"So, when's the fried chicken?"

"Well, tonight is Chicken Caesar Salad, tomorrow is prime rib…so Saturday, I guess, is that okay?"

"Sure thing!" Leonard rubbed his hands together in delight. "Now, what can I do to help with dinner tonight?"

"Are you sure the two of you wouldn't rather return to your movie?"

"You can if you like, Leonard…I need to show this little gal who to cook up a batch of croutons." Sheldon pulled a thick loaf out of the bread bin and indicated to Amy where she should make the first cut. "That's it, now make the rest of the slices just like that and cut the crusts off before making them into little cubes."

"No, I want to help too. What can I do?" Leonard washed his hands at the sink and Amy pulled out a couple of heads of lettuce and a plastic knife out of the drawer.

"Could you slice these up nice and thinly? They need rinsing and tossing in the salad spinner to dry them off."

"No problem, uh – where's the salad spinner?"

"Top left cupboard." Sheldon and Amy said in unison and turned back to their bread. Once, Sheldon was satisfied that Amy was cutting the bread to his exact specifications he prepared a baking sheet and drizzled the cubes with a little olive oil. Amy set the temperature and moved around Sheldon as he slid the tray into the oven. She ducked under his arm to pull out a tray of chicken from the fridge and started to slice it up on the chopping board that Sheldon had moved into position.

Leonard sighed under his breath as he looked up at how effortlessly the two of them moved around the kitchen together, it was like watching a perfectly choreographed ballet and it made his heart feel warm as the love between them was ever present even if it remained unspoken.

Sheldon reached up to the top shelf of the cupboard and pulled down a tin of anchovies, he passed it to Amy who opened it without missing a beat and he poured the fillets into a bowl and started mashing them to a pulp with a fork. He added some garlic, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice and with a slight nudge to Amy's shoulder, she cracked an egg into the bowl and started whisking it together before placing the bowl into the fridge to rest. Sheldon moved over to check on the croutons and judging them ready, he removed them to one side to cool. Amy set the chicken pieces on a clean plate and left them on the side, covered in a clean towel and moved over to grind a little salt and pepper over the croutons as they rested.

Leonard finished with the lettuce and pulled the parmesan cheese out of the fridge, he smiled as Amy passed him a separate bowl to shave it into…it seemed like it wasn't only Sheldon's mind that she was capable of reading. She knew instinctively that Leonard would want to place the cheese into a separate bowl rather than combining it with the lettuce as was the norm. He couldn't risk contaminating his own food with the cheese due to his lactose intolerance.

"Do you want a couple of soft boiled eggs with the salad? I know some people don't like them but I do." Amy called over her shoulder from the depths of the fridge.

"Could we have them slightly warm? I love it when the yolk oozes slightly and mixes with the sauce." Sheldon suggested and Leonard agreed.

"Great minds think alike, that's my favourite way as well."

"Me, three." Amy looked over with a smile and then turned to the door as she heard someone attempting to open it. "If that's Penny, tell her that I'll send her over a plate later on, I don't think Sheldon is quite ready to have her back in yet."


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: As promised, here's the second part of the dinner chapter...I hope you enjoy!**

Leonard made his way over to the door and pulled it open to reveal Howard, Bernadette, Raj and Wil Wheaton standing outside, each holding a card or gift for Sheldon.

"Leonard! Good to see you, buddy! Where's Sheldon?" Howard clapped his arm on Leonard's shoulder as he brushed past him into the apartment. "There he is! Man, what is that amazing smell?"

"Hello, Howard. That smell is our dinner cooking, what brings you back from your vacation a whole three days earlier than predicted?"

"Well, we felt kind of bad for not being around when you were in hospital…" Howard stated slowly and Bernadette brushed past him, hair almost flying with fury.

"What my poor excuse for a husband is trying to say is that he ignored your message, Amy and as I didn't take my phone away with me, I took his word when he said it was a 'milky green situation'! Sheldon, had I known how bad it was, I would have made Howie come straight home, I swear."

"Thank you, Bernadette; but I was in good hands as you can see." Sheldon gave Bernadette one of his rarely bestowed smiles and she hopped up on one of the stools at the counter and propped her chin in her hands.

"So, whatcha doin'?"

"Sheldon, Leonard and I are making Chicken Caesar Salad for dinner tonight." Amy replied as she tossed the croutons in with the lettuce and popped the whole bowl into the fridge.

"No pizza?" Howard lamented and immediately sat down in the armchair as Bernadette shot him an evil look from beneath lowered brows. Raj and Wil wandered over to the kitchen and Wil whistled between his teeth as he got a first-hand look at Sheldon's injuries.

"Man, Sheldon – that's some wicked looking needlework you've had done. How many pins?"

"Two, one in each bone. Six stitches in my temple and…?" He looked over at Amy for confirmation.

"Twenty four along his arm. He goes back in seven days to have the stitches removed and a permanent one piece cast put on."

"I'm sorry I couldn't come any sooner, I was filming over in Carolina and only got the message from Stuart this morning, I came as soon as I heard. Brought you a couple of comics from my new line…"

"Sorry Wil, I didn't have your number or other contact details in my phone." Amy looked up from where she was talking quietly with Bernadette and Wil shrugged.

"That's okay, here hand me your phone and I'll put my details in just in case; I'm only a few miles down the road and now that Sheldon doesn't class me as his mortal enemy any longer…" Wil grinned over at Sheldon who managed a faint smile back in response.

"Thank you for the comics, Wil; and it was very nice of you to come all this way just to check up on me…a phone call would have sufficed."

"Naw, I wanted to check up on you in person, and not just pretending to be okay." Amy looked over at Wil and caught his eye, he nodded slightly and she knew that the younger man truly did care for Sheldon. She turned her attention back to Bernadette and Raj who were both leaning on their hands waiting for her take on the whole 'Milky Green' episode.

"So, I moved into Leonard's room to take care of Sheldon…end of story; no juicy details or scandalous tidbits, just fulfilling the requirements of the Boo boos and Ouchies clause."

"Amy!" Sheldon protested from across the kitchen. "They don't need to know all of our intimate details…"

"Sorry, Sheldon." Amy apologised and he crossed over to wrap her in a one armed hug.

"…I already told you that I would have wanted you here, regardless of that stupid clause." He dropped another kiss to the top of her head and wandered away again. Raj blinked hard, certain that his long flight had impaired his senses.

"Bernadette, pinch me." Raj whispered over to his small, blonde companion; who turned to pat his arm.

"Don't worry, Raj - you're not seeing things. That was a definite PDA!" Bernadette giggled into her hand and Raj let out a little squeal of delight as he exchanged a high five with one of his best girlfriends.

"Okay, those of you that came expecting pizza…sorry, it's off the menu for tonight." Amy announced from the kitchen and after a quick nod from Sheldon, she continued. "However, those of you that wish to join Sheldon, Leonard and I in a home cooked meal are welcome to stay and join us. We're having Caesar Salad for the vegetarians among us…" Amy looked around to see if there were any raised hands, "No, then I guess it's Chicken Caesar Salad for the rest of us."

"Howard, help Leonard clear off the coffee table." Bernadette called over her shoulder as she walked around the counter to offer her help.

"Yes, dear." Howard muttered under his breath, and Leonard gave him a warning look.

"If you want to join Penny in her banishment, carry on the way you are."

"Penny got banished again? What did she do this time?"

"Kicked Amy out of the apartment and sent her home this morning. Sheldon managed to get her to return, she cooked him up a special batch of soup which Penny then proceeded to help herself too while Amy was helping Sheldon in the shower…when he got out she received the full brunt of his icy blast."

"Ooh, with the quiet voice?"

"Yeah, gave me the shivers. Anyway, he said she wasn't allowed back in until she learnt some manners. I sided with Sheldon and that got me kicked out of **her **apartment. Worked out for the best today though, cause it meant that I got to share in the fantastic soup that Amy made and witnessed a beautifully romantic tale this afternoon."

"You been watching Titanic again, Leonard? That is lame even for you."

"No!" Leonard hissed at Howard and jerked his head over to the kitchen. "I spent all afternoon watching them, anyone would think that they were the married couple. Honestly, Howard it was like watching a ballet – he called her 'darlin' and she didn't even flinch, I think it means that he must have called her that before, he hugged her a couple of times and even kissed her head – right in front of me! PDA's, Howard!"

"You're just yanking my chain aren't you?" Howard muttered as he stole a glance over at the kitchen where Sheldon was talking to Wil about his new comic book and Amy was over at the stove with Bernadette. They were interrupted by a dreamy looking Raj who practically floated over in their direction. "What's up with him?" Howard jerked his thumb over at where Raj had settled dreamily in Sheldon's chair and was spinning it around with his foot.

"He just witnessed something incredible. Raj?"

"Yes, Leonard?" Raj looked up from his daydream of a beautifully decorated church where the aisle was decorated with thousands of pastel rose petals.

"Tell Howard what you saw in the kitchen."

"Oh, Howard…it was magnificent, everything I ever dreamed it would be…He leant in close and wrapped his arm around her before bestowing a tender kiss to her silken hair…Ah!"

"Believe me now?"

"Not until I see it with my own eyes." Howard retrieved a table cloth from the closet and spread it over the coffee table.

"Bernadette was there, she saw it too." Raj announced and suddenly Howard was all in favour.

"I believe it, I believe it." Howard chanted under his breath, not wanting to face the wrath of hurricane Bernadette again anytime soon.

Over in the kitchen, Bernadette gently nudged a tired Sheldon out of the way and steered him toward Wil. "Take him over to the couch, Wil before he falls down."

"Sheldon, are you okay? I knew that you'd done too much today…" Amy was instantly by his side and tucked herself under his left arm to support his weight. Sheldon squeezed her waist with his good hand and urged her back to the chicken.

"I'm okay, darlin' – you go and take care of that chicken before it decides to jump right out of the pan."

"Oy vey, it's a miracle!" Howard muttered under his breath and said a quick prayer of thanks. He'd heard the endearment slip easily off Sheldon's tongue and saw the way that Amy had rushed immediately to his side as soon as she saw he was in need. Sparing a glance over at Leonard, the two men exchanged quick nods as Wil helped Sheldon to the couch, steering him towards his favoured spot.

"No, I'm currently occupying the other end, Wil." Sheldon announced and Howard, Raj and Wil looked on in amazement as Sheldon settled himself at the other end, pulling his striped cushion into place to rest his arm upon. Everyone noticed his gaze constantly returning to the brunette in the kitchen, and Sheldon twitched a little under the close scrutiny but tried to ignore it. "Shall we return to our movie, Leonard?"

"Sure, Sheldon – why don't you put it back to the beginning? We hadn't long started it before we got distracted by the groceries."

"Alright, Episode V it is." Sheldon selected the start of the movie and the guys settled in to watch, Howard took Leonard's desk chair, Raj was in Sheldon's, Wil sprawled out comfortably on the rug leaning against the armchair which he had left empty for Bernadette's use. Leonard was in Sheldon's usual seat which left the seat in between them open for Amy – although Leonard suspected that she would be pressed up so tightly against Sheldon's side that Bernadette could easily squeeze in next to her.

"Okay, dinner's ready. We've left the parmesan in a separate bowl so that Leonard can safely eat the salad, the eggs are also in a separate bowl just in case people prefer to leave them out. Leonard, what does Penny like?"

"Um, to be honest I have no idea…we eat a lot of Ramen noodles or we're over here for take-out. If I thought she'd answer, I'd give her a call."

"Good Lord! Bernadette go knock on her door and get her over here." Sheldon sighed heavily and jerked his head over to the door.

"Are you sure, Sheldon?" Bernadette asked just before she pulled it open.

"Yes, but go quickly before I change my mind." Sheldon leant his head back against the cushion and found himself leaning against a softness that wasn't there a few seconds ago, he opened his eyes to see that Amy had propped a small pillow behind his head and was holding his plate of food in one hand, and the cup containing his medication in the other. He accepted the plate and she placed the medication on the coffee table that Howard had nudged a little closer with his foot. Raj handed him a cup of juice and Sheldon gave them all a weary looking smile.

"Thanks." He murmured to everyone and threw back the pills washing them down with the juice. Amy continued handing out plates to everyone and placed the cutlery and bowls of food down on the coffee table.

"Okay, dig in." She announced and there was a sudden dash to the table from Wil and Leonard, both fighting over control of the tongs. She looked up to see a very woebegone Penny walk quietly into the apartment behind Bernadette and the way that Penny gently rubbed Sheldon's shoulder in apology as she walked behind the couch, and then Sheldon reaching up to press her hand lightly in acceptance. Penny sat on the arm of the couch and waited for Leonard to notice her arrival; he of course, had smelt her perfume from the moment she stepped through the door and merely turned around to ask whether she wanted cheese and eggs with her salad.

Tears prickled behind Amy's eyes and she rose to her feet, excusing herself for a moment. She hurried into the privacy of the bathroom and closed the door firmly behind her. She sat down on the closed lid of the toilet seat and waited for the knock on the door.

Knock, knock, knock; "Amy?" Sheldon repeated his ritual knocking and she finally called out for him to come in. He walked into the bathroom and took a seat on the edge of the tub.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing…it just all seemed so…" Amy struggled for the right words to describe what had made her so emotional all of the sudden.

"Perfect." Sheldon filled in and Amy nodded.

"Yeah…" Amy muttered and wiped her nose with a piece of toilet tissue. "You must think I've gone loopy, weeping over something that most people would be smiling about."

"You forget, Amy…We are not 'most people'. Come on, dry your eyes and let's get back to that delicious dinner that we slaved over all afternoon." Sheldon held out his hand and Amy wiped her eyes and sprayed her hands with Purell before taking his hand and letting him lead her back to the couch. He settled down in his seat and tucked her against his side, before leaning over to pick up her plate which was an exact replica of his own. They had just settled down to eat, when Penny suddenly leant forward from where she was sitting next to Wil on the floor.

"Okay, what the frickin' hell happened in here this afternoon? Who are you and what have you done with Sheldon and Amy?"

"Oh, relax Penny…they do that now." Leonard patted his fiancée on the shoulder and she tilted her head back to peer up at him.

"Do what exactly?"

"PDA's." Chimed in the rest of the gang and Penny looked up to Leonard for confirmation, his solemn nod told her all that she needed to know.

"Great, I get banished for one afternoon and I miss everything!"


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Plenty of Shamy feels in this chapter. I need your opinion on where to end this story...once you've got to the end, please let me have your thoughts. No spoilers up here, catch you at the end of the chapter!**

Wil made his goodbyes shortly after dinner had finished, he hugged Amy and thanked her for the meal before apologising to Sheldon for rushing off.

"I've got to catch the red eye back to Carolina at eleven, I really only called in to make sure you were okay, I didn't expected to get fed in the bargain."

"When are you back in town, Wil?" Asked Amy as she paused in collecting up the dirty plates.

"Hmm, Saturday afternoon. I get back around two, I think. Why's that, Ames?"

"If you don't have any other plans, you're quite welcome to join Sheldon and I for fried chicken, I'm doing biscuits, creamed gravy, mash potatoes and…"

"No need for any further details, count me in." Wil waved goodbye and let himself out of the apartment.

"Amy, why'd you have to go and invite Wil? He's gonna get to all the biscuits before I even get a look in…" Leonard whined from the couch, "Did you see the way he dived for the croutons?"

"Hey, who said you were even invited? It's polite to wait until you're asked." Penny fluttered her eyelashes over at Amy who was unfortunately looking the other way. "Hmm." Penny sighed, "Guess that didn't work."

"Don't worry about it sweetheart…I know a guy that knows a girl…stick with me kid, and I'll get ya in." Leonard put on a fake mobster accent and kissed Penny's shoulder.

"Oh, yeah?" She looked up and raised her eyebrow in question.

"Yeah, I already scored us and invite…you're my plus one."

"Yay!" Penny cheered and lept up to lend Amy a hand with the dishes. "Put me on dish duty on Saturday, Ames…I might not be able to cook, but I can wash up just fine."

"Okay bestie." Amy agreed with a smile and passed a handful of plates over to Penny to put into the dishwasher. She could hear Bernadette, Howard and Raj murmuring over in the armchair and glanced over to Sheldon who gave her a little smirk in return. "Raj, do you want to invite anyone in particular? Is Emily going to be in town this weekend?"

"Really, I get to come over and experience another Amy cooked meal? Thank you!" Raj jumped up from the chair and did a little dance in front of Bernadette and Howard. Amy's next words had him slumping in slight disappointment.

"Bernie, will you and Howard give Stuart and Debbie a ride over if they want to come?" Howard jumped up to join Raj in his little dance and Bernadette maintained her cool composure but inside she was skipping with joy – another grown up meal that didn't involve cardboard cartons!

"Stuart might want to come, Ma will be in Reno visiting her sister this weekend. We can swing by and pick him up, can't we Bernie?"

"Sure, Howie. Amy, why don't you give him a call tomorrow and let me know? I'll drive over early to give you a hand if you like and Howie can take his own car."

"That's okay, Bernie. Leonard's already offered to come over and help me out." Amy refused Bernadette's offer with a smile, already knowing that Leonard was eager to find his way around the kitchen, if only to get away from Penny's Ramen bags that were threatening to take over her kitchen. "You can still come over early if you want too, we can have a catch up while we watch Leonard slave over a hot stove."

"That is something I'd buy a ticket to." Bernie stated with a little giggle, and blew Leonard a kiss to say that she was only kidding. "Right, come on Howie; we'd better get going. You've got to be up early for work in the morning, Raj's had a long day and he's nearly asleep in the chair." Bernadette nudged Raj awake and crossed over to hug Amy goodnight. "Thanks for dinner, it was delicious and made a welcome change from pizza!" She walked over to lightly place her hand on Sheldon's arm, causing his eyes to flutter open from his light doze. She bent down to press a light kiss against his forehead and wished him a quiet goodnight, Sheldon accepted her caress without flinching and Bernie knew that whatever miracle had happened in the apartment over the last couple of days, had changed Sheldon for the better. Raj and Howard thanked Amy with a smile and a light touch to the arm and called goodnight to Sheldon from the doorway. Just as they left, Howard poked his head back around the door.

"Are we still on for Chinese tomorrow night?" Leonard looked over at Sheldon who smirked over at Amy who replied with a soft smile.

"Prime rib with barbeque sauce and onion rings."

"See you at seven?"

"I take it you're not following kosher rules tomorrow?" Sheldon called out from his seat on the couch.

"Kosher, smosher…this is home cooking, people! So, seven?" He addressed Amy who nodded in return. When he left she turned to Leonard and Sheldon.

"Now you see why I never offered to cook for you before…and why I bought two full racks today!"

"I always knew you could cook; the way you do spaghetti and hot dogs…yummy!" Sheldon looked over at Amy with something akin to his koala expression and Amy grinned.

"That's not exactly a hard meal to master, Sheldon. I bet even Penny could do that one."

"Yup, that one I can do." Penny nodded proudly and Leonard squeezed her shoulder. "Okay, that one I can almost do…I just need to get that timing right on the spaghetti."

"It all comes with practise, bestie. I'm going to be making some bread tomorrow, why don't you call over and lend me a hand?"

"Would that be that French bread that Penny almost inhaled out of the bag this morning?" Leonard asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"That would be the one, yes."

"Penny, forget what I said about going back to work early…I'm coming over here to watch Amy cook, you can come along or take yourself shopping – either way's fine with me."

"Alright, Leonard. I will see you at seven o'clock. I'm going to be making a lot of bread and they require rising times as well as baking times…"

"Don't forget the eating time, as well." Penny muttered behind her hand. "I'm taking you up on the shopping offer by the way."

"I kinda already guessed you would." Leonard smirked back and caught sight of Sheldon trying to hide a yawn behind his hand. "Well, we'd better head on back to our place and unpack."

"I didn't use the sheets at all, bestie so they are just as fresh as when you first put them on."

"Ah, wish I could say the same for yours, Ames…" Penny said regretfully, "Leonard and I kinda just crashed in there after you left…"

"Don't worry, I'll change them when Sheldon is in the shower." Amy smiled over at the couple and Leonard leant forward to give her a hug.

"Thanks for today…for everything really, thank you." He whispered near her ear and Amy nodded, already knowing what he was referring to…her willingness to step into the breach that he'd left behind, making sure that Sheldon was taken care of and keeping him happy.

"You're welcome. Night, bestie!" Penny waved in response before she and Leonard stepped out of the door, closing it softly behind them. Amy slumped back down on the couch and leant her head against Sheldon's shoulder, he immediately raised his arm to let her snuggle closer.

"What a day…" Amy sighed as she kicked off her shoes and curled her feet up onto the couch.

"Yeah…" Sheldon agreed as he toed off his slippers and placed his feet up on the coffee table, sliding a little lower into the cushions.

"Still, it's been fun hasn't it?"

"Mostly, although I can't say that I enjoyed this morning very much. I rolled over in bed, expecting to find you and woke up staring into Leonard's eyes instead!" Sheldon gave a little shiver in remembrance and pulled Amy a little closer in an effort to banish the memory.

"Yeah, that was a bit of a jolt for me too. Still, I don't want to think about it anymore, water under the bridge and all that…" Amy murmured and vowed to try and forget the anguish at being practically forced out of her own boyfriend's apartment.

"Uh-huh…" Sheldon agreed sleepily as he pulled Amy's hand across his chest so that she was almost wrapped around him.

"This is how I woke up this morning, nice and cosy, all wrapped up in a Sheldon cocoon."

"Mmm…why'd you get up so early anyway?"

"I was going to bring you breakfast in bed…I was going to do French toast but didn't get very far…"

"Uh-huh…maybe tomorrow." Sheldon tilted his head toward Amy and tried to open his eyes, but found his eyelids were incredibly heavy.

"No…baking bread with Leonard."

"Saturday then…"

"Hmm, depends on what Bernadette's idea of early is."

"Sunday, and that's my final offer."

"Offer of what exactly? I'm the one that's offering up a platter of French toast!" Amy tickled him lightly along the ribs and felt Sheldon squirm under her fingertips and trying to bat her hand away.

"You said you wanted a night wrapped up in a Sheldon cocoon, I assumed that you would only agree on a day where you offered French toast in return."

"Sheldon, are you trying to ask me whether I will sleep with you again?"

"Um…and if I was?"

"I might be persuaded to say yes…" Amy replied softly, nuzzling her head under Sheldon's chin and catching her hair on his bristles.

"Amy, I would no longer object to classifying you as not sharing my bed at night." Sheldon smirked down at Amy who pulled his head down so that she could kiss him.

"Sheldon…"

"Amy, would you please move into my bedroom with me?"

"How long for?"

"Let's just say that I would no longer object if we do not refer to you as 'not my roommate'. What do you say?" A long closed mouth kiss that sent ripples throughout his whole body was his only reply and he smiled against her lips. "I take it that's a yes then?"

"You bet your sweet tushie it is. Come on, the sooner we get you showered the sooner I get to cuddle up with my snuggle bunny!"

"I'm too tired to shower again tonight, can't it wait until the morning? We can kick Leonard out when your first batch of dough is rising and do it then…please, Amy?"

"All right, let me just lock up and get the lights. Want any milk tonight?"

"No, that was just an excuse to get you into my room last night anyway." Sheldon admitted and groaned when Amy shot him a teasing look over her shoulder.

"I know."

"Darlin', you are headin' for a whole heap of trouble once I'm out of this plaster cast!"

"Ooh, promises, promises Doctor Cooper!" Amy teased from the doorway of his bedroom and Sheldon nudged her inside, edging her backwards slowly until she fell against the edge of the bed.

"Darlin'…you seem to be forgettin' one tiny detail." Sheldon leant over her the best he could with one arm out of action. He teased her with tiny little kisses dotted against her mouth. "I** never **forget… Now, how about we get me out of these clothes and into something more comfortable?"

"Now you're stealing my lines...God, have I ever mentioned how much I like it when you go all Texan on me?" Amy murmured against his mouth as she fought to suppress the urge that she had to tear off his clothes and press him against the mattress.

"Anytime, darlin'." Sheldon murmured as he pressed one final kiss against her soft lips, before sitting upright on the bed and waiting for her to do the same. After a few moments, Amy was composed enough to get to her feet and help Sheldon out of his clothes and into his nightwear. He dropped a kiss against her hair before stepping into the bathroom, leaving her to change in private. She met him trying to get the toothpaste onto his brush without making a mess in the sink.

"Let me." Amy plucked the tube out of his hand and gently squeezed a blob onto his brush. They usually took turns at the sink but tonight Sheldon stepped to one side allowing Amy to brush right alongside him. They brushed in unison, rinsed and spat at the same time before Amy passed him a capful of mouthwash while she prepared her own cup. She looked over to see that Sheldon had waited for her before they both swilled the mouthwash for thirty seconds and gargled before spitting into the sink. Amy reached over for a hand towel and patted her mouth dry, she passed it to Sheldon to dry with as she rinsed out the sink. Sheldon passed her the towel that she dropped in the laundry hamper as they were passing. Turning out the lights as they went, they slipped into their newly discovered positions in the bed and whispered their good nights after switching off the light. It was exactly as Leonard had thought earlier that day in the kitchen, the love was ever present; it just remained unspoken…for now, at least.

**AN**: **So, Sheldon's finally asked her to move in, and not into Leonard's old room! Do you want to see the gang's reaction? The whole seven days of dinners? Drop me a line and let me know...I've got a whole heap of ideas over where this could head but I won't continue if you'd rather I left it here. Amy could return to work, but who would look after Sheldon? His Mother, Meemaw or Penny? Perhaps Amy will take this opportunity to finally get around to writing that textbook that Siebert has been nagging her to write...How far to you want to see Shamy go? You let me know and I'll do my best to accommodate. xx**


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning when Sheldon woke up it was to the light stroking of Amy's hand on his chest. He turned his head slightly on the pillow and gave her a lopsided smile.

"Morning, handsome." Amy whispered as she pecked his stubbly cheek and then drew back with a slight frown.

"What? You've gone off me already? I knew the moment you moved in things would change, I just didn't expect them to be overnight." Sheldon panicked a little and reached over to grasp Amy's hand, she gave it a little squeeze in return.

"Relax, Tex…I was just surprised at how quickly your facial hair grows in…You've gone past sexy stubble to just plain urgghh overnight."

"Sexy stubble, huh?" Sheldon grinned at the thought of being classed as Amy's sex on a stick once again, and rubbed his chin over the sensitive palm on her hand.

"Not anymore, stop! That tickles!" Amy giggled as Sheldon continued to rub his bristles over her palm and the inside of her wrist before placing a kiss in the centre of her palm and curling her fingers up around it.

"There…that's all you get until we both brush our teeth. Morning breath is not something I care to experience, woman that's-no-longer-not-my-roommate."

"Mmm, I like the sound of that…"Amy breathed out and shuffled down on the bed a little so that she could tuck her head into the crook of Sheldon's left arm. He curled his arm around her slender frame and let his hand fall into the curve of her waist.

"When are you going to start moving your things over? How much notice do you have to give on your apartment?" Sheldon's finger started to trace lazy patterns over the hem of her pyjama shirt and with each pass, the hem rose up a little higher until his lean fingers were making direct contact with her warm skin. Amy turned into his touch a little and his hand slipped around until it was pressing against her abdomen.

"Mmm?" Amy murmured distractedly, focusing on the abstract pattern that Sheldon's fingers were drawing on her skin.

"Your apartment, how much notice do you need to give?" Sheldon let his fingers still so that Amy could concentrate on his question.

"I don't really know, I'd have to look at my rental agreement or ask my landlord. When were you thinking of letting me move in?"

"Well, that one's kind of a difficult question." Sheldon rested his chin lightly on top of her head, "It kinda feels like you already live here…"

"You too? I've been feeling that way all week."

"Hmm, so it's just a case of moving your physical things over. Most of Leonard's stuff has already gone across to Penny's but he still has a lot of memorabilia stored in his old room; his desk is still here though, that might cause a problem."

"Why?"

"Well, your desk is so much bigger and I don't think it will fit where Leonard's is at the moment."

"I was thinking of putting it up on the platform, where Leonard had that stupid table a few months ago."

"Oh, that's so far away from mine, though."

"Well, you said it was a large desk. Perhaps we could share it? We both have laptops, we could sit opposite each other, I'd let you have the side nearest the bookcase so that you can face the door."

"Mmm, we'd have to measure the space and check the dimensions of your desk; perhaps I could move my old desk and your couch into Leonard's room and make that our space for when we need a little time alone."

"We could get rid of the bed and move your tv from here and hook it up to one of your spare games systems…I was thinking that could be like your bat cave, you could put your whiteboards permanently up on the wall, maybe take one of my bookcases in there for some of your textbooks or comics…" Amy mused as she thought about how to make Leonard's room into a private retreat for Sheldon for the times where he needed to focus on himself.

"It will be for both of us, not just me Amy." Sheldon placed one lean forefinger under her chin so that he could raise her head up to look into her eyes. "I want it to be somewhere where you can disappear to if you need a break from my annoying habits…I know that I can be a little tiresome sometimes and I will understand if you need to get away for a little Amy time." He saw how much his words meant when Amy's eyes shone with glistening unshed tears and gently leant down to place a sweet kiss upon her lips.

"Morning breath, remember?" Amy murmured against his lips, and felt Sheldon shrug under her hands.

"Might as well get used to it sometime." Sheldon murmured back without breaking contact, and thought that it wasn't such an ordeal to kiss his girlfriend without brushing their teeth as he had first thought. They were interrupted by the sound of the apartment door opening and Leonard calling out as he wandered through the living room.

"Amy? Sheldon? It's gone seven, are you up yet?"

"Give me a second, Leonard! I overslept a little, I'll be out shortly." Amy tore her mouth away from Sheldon and scrambled out of bed, leaving Sheldon looking delightfully ruffled and more than a little pleased with himself. "Get up!" Amy hissed at him and he shook his head with a smile.

"Darlin', knowing Leonard as I do, he will have already poked his head into his bedroom and seen that you not only didn't change the sheets after his little dalliance with Penny yesterday morning, but that it shows no sign of occupation from last night either…we've been rumbled, Darlin' and we're just gonna have to put up with his snarky little comments all day. It'll be all over the group by this evening, it only took an hour last time around."

"Yeah, well that was just a bunch of gossip designed for testing that specific premise…this is our real lives Sheldon, and I don't want it spread around until we are ready for it."

"Amy, come here." Sheldon threw back the covers and patted the spot next to him on the bed. Amy crossed over, still carrying her hairbrush and Sheldon plucked the brush out of her hand and started running it through her hair as she sat next to him. "I couldn't give two hoots about what the rest of them are likely to say about us, we know that we have something real and lasting. It may take us a little longer to get there, but we're heading for the end zone, Amy."

"Football metaphor, Sheldon?"

"Well, you can take the man out of Texas, but…"

"You can't take the Texas out of the man." Amy finished for him and dropped a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks, Tex…you always seem to know exactly what to say in order to cheer me up. Now, I'm going to head into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. Why don't you throw on a robe and go entertain Leonard with our little plan?"

"Really? I can tell him?" Sheldon's face brightened and his smile blossomed until it was wider than she'd ever seen.

"Well, I figured that if we were going to start moving my things across…it wouldn't hurt to have Leonard give me a hand while the bread is rising. I'm sure between the three of us we could work out the most effective us of space between the rooms."

"You've just made my day, little lady!" Sheldon beamed at her, and Amy chuckled as she rose up from the bed and walked across the room to leave. She pulled open the bedroom door, calling out over her shoulder.

"Now, hustle up cowboy!" As she turned around she saw a bemused looking Leonard standing just outside of Sheldon's room with a mug of coffee in his hand. She leant forward to gently tap Leonard's gaping mouth closed with her finger.

"Morning, Leonard. You'll be pleased to hear that Sheldon is in a reasonably good mood today, he's just getting up now." Amy sauntered off into the bathroom and Leonard just stood staring after her with the mug in his hand, where it was dangerously close to tipping over.

"Leonard? Would you mind coming in and lending me a hand with my robe?" Sheldon called out from inside his bedroom where he was attempting to wrestle his robe into place. Leonard walked in and immediately noticed the two very distinct head depressions on the matching pillows.

"So, Amy said you were in a good mood this morning; any particular reason?" Leonard asked in an off-hand manner as he carefully tugged Sheldon's robe over his sling, leaving his arm out of the sleeve.

"No particular reason, just life in general I guess." Sheldon turned away to hide his smile as he picked up a comb from the dresser and ran it through his hair. "Come on, I need your help with something while Amy gets dressed." Sheldon left the bedroom, closing the door firmly behind him. He led Leonard over to the platform area and made a sweeping gesture with his hand. "How big do you think this area is?"

"Um…I measured it for the table so if I remember correctly, it's approximately nine feet by four feet."

"Okay, could you sketch out a rough plan for me please, and include the measurements?"

"Sure, buddy. You thinking of putting another table up here for the gang?"

"Gosh no! I'm thinking of moving my desk up here…that's all. Really, Leonard another table? Don't you think we learnt our lesson the last time?" Sheldon gave Leonard a mocking look and then grinned. "Okay, I can't keep it to myself any longer! Leonard, you need to move the rest of your things out immediately because Amy has agreed to become my new roommate. Her desk is much larger than mine and so we're going to move hers up here and both share it. My desk will move into your old room along with Amy's couch…and Amy's letting me set it up as a bat cave!" The words spilled out of Sheldon's mouth so fast that Leonard was having trouble processing it all…he got the words roommate, desk and bat cave but everything was a little jumbled together.

"Wait…are you saying that when Amy moves in…she's gonna be sleeping with you?" Leonard leant against the end of the couch and folded his arms across his chest.

"Of course she is, where else would she be sleeping? She is my girlfriend, you know." Sheldon smirked over at Leonard before sauntering off into the bathroom to brush his teeth, leaving Leonard standing slack jawed against the couch.

"Leonard… Leonard?" Leonard's head snapped around when he realised Amy had been calling his name repeatedly from the kitchen.

"Huh?"

"I asked whether you had eaten yet this morning."

"Ah, no…" Leonard crossed over to take a seat at the counter and ran his hand through his curly hair. "Sorry for spacing out on you for a minute, it was just a bit of a shock."

"You and me both, brother." Amy murmured as she started to slice up some cold salad potatoes. "I couldn't believe it when Sheldon asked me last night…well, it was more of the way he put it really."

"And how was that exactly?" Leonard propped his chin in his hands as he watched Amy move around the kitchen, gathering the ingredients together for breakfast.

"Did Sheldon ever happen to mention how he got me to be his girlfriend in the first place?"

"Uh…no, I don't think he went into specifics; I know it was when you were out on a date with Stuart."

"Well, he came in halfway through the movie and sat down next to me and he said 'he would not object to us no longer characterizing me as not his girlfriend.' Now, insert roommate instead of girlfriend and then a few minutes later 'my bed' instead of 'Leonard's room' and you have practically the whole conversation."

"Amy, are you giving away all of our secrets? Leonard has enough on his hands dealing with Penny, he doesn't need to hear all of our intimate details; he'll only get jealous." Sheldon's quiet voice from behind had Leonard twisting around on the stool to face his friend.

"Hey, buddy…I didn't say it earlier, but I'm really happy for you guys." Leonard smiled at his friend and saw Sheldon's shoulders relax under his bathrobe. He took a seat next to Leonard and shot Amy a smile over the counter.

"Ooh, frittata's lovely!" Sheldon grinned as he saw what Amy was preparing for breakfast and then swivelled on the seat to face Leonard. "Thank you, we were hoping that you might be able to lend us a hand with the move today. Amy's going to contact her landlord to see what kind of notice period she has to give, but we thought that we'd start moving her in straight away."

"Already done, Sheldon." Amy waved her phone over at her boyfriend and tilted the screen so that he could see the response. "I have to give three weeks' notice, but I can start moving out whenever I like and can hand back the keys at any time. I've already paid this months' rent so I'm good to go."

"Great! So, can you help us out today then?"

"Sure, hey…can I ask Penny over for breakfast?" Leonard asked Amy as he saw the massive pan that she was setting on the stove.

"Of course, but it's not even half past seven yet, you know you're risking having her judo chop your throat?"

"Hey, once I give her the news that her bestie is moving in across the hall, I guarantee that she'll be over her like a shot, I might even be able to save my credit card from a bashing as she will probably be wanting to help move you in straight away." Leonard grinned over his shoulder as he headed for the door, as soon as it closed behind him – Sheldon moved around the counter to pull Amy into his arms.

"Mmm…minty fresh." She murmured against his lips and felt him smile.

"Just for you, darlin'." He rubbed his lips softly against hers and cradled her gently against his slender frame.

"Oh my God!" Penny had entered the apartment quietly so that she could test what Leonard had predicted, her excited squeal had Sheldon releasing Amy's lips and turning his head to look at his over exuberant neighbour. "Leonard said…but I didn't believe….Oh My God!" Penny started jumping up and down, squealing with excitement. Sheldon reluctantly stepped out of Amy's warm embrace to let Penny throw her arms around her friend and hug her tightly.

"Easy there, tiger…save some for Sheldon." Amy patted Penny's back and leant away from the embrace, Penny released her and swivelled around to Sheldon. His eyes widened in panic and he threw up a hand to stop her from coming any closer.

"Stay right where you are, you nearly killed me with that boa constrictor hug yesterday…those are reserved for Amy from now on."

"Aw, Shelly….give me a little sugar….c'mon, please?" Penny fluttered her eyelashes at Sheldon and he sighed heavily, holding out his left arm.

"Very well, but this is a one-time deal, ya hear me, woman?" Penny rushed over to Sheldon and tucked herself under his arm, being a little taller than Amy it didn't feel as easy to him as it was with her and so he held himself a little stiffly. Penny wrapped her arm around his waist and hugged him gently for a moment before stepping away.

"There, that wasn't so bad was it?" Penny looked over at Sheldon who had stepped closer to Amy and was grasping her hand for comfort.

"I guess not, it kind of reminded me a little of the Christmas when you gave me that Leonard Nimoy napkin; it wasn't entirely unpleasant." Sheldon mused and then turned to look at Amy with a soft smile. "Not the same as when Amy hugs me, of course, but I suppose I could relax my rules around you slightly." He shot Penny a sharp look, "Don't take that as an excuse to fling yourself at me at every opportunity…that's what you have Leonard for."

"Okay, Sheldon. I'll try and restrain myself…although I have to say…looking good there, Tex!" Penny made a kitten growl under her breath and reached over to run her hand over Sheldon's bristly cheek.

"Penny, behave!" Sheldon stepped out of reach and batted her hand away. "Leonard, control your woman, please."

"Sorry, Sheldon…but you do look kinda hot…in that totally 'if I were a woman' way, I mean." Leonard fumbled his way through his explanation, cheeks scarlet with embarrassment. Amy took pity on him and handed him the plates and cutlery.

"Leonard, set those out on the counter for me please. Penny, could you pour some juice? Sheldon, sit down…it's time for your medicine." Amy bustled around the stove as she flipped the frittata onto a serving plate and heard the chink of china and the flow of liquid into glasses; she glanced behind her and saw the three friends sitting at the counter with an empty chair left in the middle for her…_Perfection, _she thought to herself as she carried the platter over to the counter and everyone began to dig in… She couldn't wait for this to become an everyday occurrence.


	12. Chapter 12

An hour later, the first batch of dough was rising on the counter and Amy was watching as Leonard and Sheldon measured the platform area and then Leonard's old room. Sheldon was still in his bathrobe and Leonard was covered in a light dusting of flour from where he had helped her knead the dough. Penny was over in her apartment clearing some space in the living room for Leonard to move his desk across.

"Okay, I'm going to head over to my apartment and start packing up a few clothes and books. Sheldon, are you okay with Leonard helping you in the shower this morning?"

"I'll be fine, Amy. Leonard knows to wrap my cast in three layers of plastic wrap and I'm sure we'll manage without you for a few hours."

"Alright, Leonard if I'm not back by twelve you'll need to knock the air out of the dough and give it another quick knead. Cover it with the wrap again and then leave it alone, Sheldon can tell you if you're doing it the right way. Right, I'm off then." Amy picked up her purse and keys and walked over to the door.

"Wait!" Sheldon called out as he dropped the tape measure he was holding for Leonard and hurried after her. Amy paused with her hand on the doorknob and turned around. Sheldon pointed to his cheek and raised his eyebrow. "Well?" Amy smiled and then pecked him lightly on the cheek before slipping under his arm to knock on Penny's door.

"Bestie, are you coming along with me or not?"

"Be right there!" Penny called out from inside and pulled the door open to see Sheldon standing in his doorway watching them leave. "Don't look now, but there's some pervert standing outside his apartment in his pyjamas." Penny covered her mouth with the side of her hand, but kept her voice loud enough for Sheldon to hear.

"Ha, ha…very amusing, Penny." Sheldon waved goodbye at Amy and then stepped back inside, closing the door behind him. He sighed a little as he wandered over to the couch and sat down.

"Buddy, she'll only be gone a couple of hours." Leonard heard the deep and meaningful sigh and looked up from his notepad.

"I know, but apart from the grocery shopping yesterday afternoon, this is the first time we've spent apart since Monday and it feels a little weird. Is this what my life is going to be like from now on, Leonard? Waiting at the door like a little puppy?"

"Not all of the time, Sheldon…sure, it might be like that for a little while, but it's only because it's new. You just need to get used to being together and then to being apart…That's the whole point of the bat cave isn't it? So that you can remain together but each with a little space to just be yourself."

"I'm beginning to think that I wasn't really **me**, until that vixen came along. I was just floating along without a purpose…"

"And do you feel like you have a purpose now, Sheldon?" Leonard was impressed by Sheldon's turn of phrase and found it quite poetic.

"Yes, I believe that with Amy by my side I could be capable of anything."

"What about when she goes back to work next week? What are you going to do then?" Leonard left the notepad on the edge of Sheldon's desk and perched on the arm of the armchair.

"Well, I know Amy was hoping to make an announcement at dinner on Saturday night; if you can promise to act surprised I will let you her plans. The Presidents of both UCLA and CalTech have asked her to write a neurobiology text book, including the findings from her primate studies; she will be taking a six month sabbatical while she works on the book."

"Wow, that's quite an honour…" Leonard moved over to sit next to Sheldon on the couch, "Will she be working from CalTech or UCLA?"

"She can access all of the data from her laptop which is linked to both University servers so she can pretty much write it from anywhere she chooses. It has even made me rethink my own refusal to write up my research papers…Siebert offered me the same chance to produce a couple of text books on particle physics but I turned him down; I will see how Amy gets on with her writing and may yet still take him up on the offer." Sheldon tapped his fingers against the side of the couch as he thought about what working alongside his girlfriend could mean…would the romance die out of their relationship if they spent all day and night with each other, or would it produce a source of inspiration as they bounced ideas off each other? They could be the next Pierre and Marie Curie – just without the radiation…

"Good for you, Sheldon. I'm very proud of the fact that you are so supportive of Amy's career choices and that it has helped shed a light on your own path; I've been telling you for ages that you should have taken him up on his offer…you have so much knowledge stored away in your brain that it would be a shame if you didn't share it with the rest of the world; you could really make a difference to someone else's life…who knows, you may even have a little space for theoretical physics and you know I would be glad to lend a hand."

"Well, thank you Leonard. I will think about writing up a proposal and let you know. How would you feel if it were more than a little space?"

"What are you trying to say, Sheldon? That you'd like to collaborate on a whole book with me? That wouldn't exactly be a text book for the university then, would it?"

"Not exactly…I was approached a few months ago by Stephen Hawking's publishers; apparently Stephen put in a good word for me and they asked me whether I would be interested in writing a series of books for them, I though perhaps we might be able to find something that straddles both of our streams."

"Again, Sheldon…wow!" Leonard was literally speechless, Sheldon had just offered him an opportunity that could possibly change his whole life…

"Don't say anything to anyone else, I want Amy to have her moment in the spotlight. Siebert has made her a firm offer and they've exchanged contracts, mine is just whispers and speculation. Give me another couple of days, until my stitches come out; I'll be able to move my arm a little more freely and I'll write up a number of different proposals and e-mail them to the publishing house."

"Sheldon…I…Oh, come here." Leonard struggled for the right words and instead pulled Sheldon into a one-armed hug and patted his back. When he pulled away he quickly wiped away a tear that had formed behind his glasses. "Um…so are you ready for that shower now?"

"Certainly, Leonard. If you could just help me out of my pyjama top and then wrap my arm, I think I will be able to manage…I may need a little help getting dressed again, but I will let you know."

"Sure, buddy, anything you need." Leonard walked with Sheldon into the bathroom and was extra careful when removing the sling and ensured that the plastic wrap was encased all the way around the cast. "Okay?"

"Yes, that seems fine, thank you. I can manage from here." Sheldon stepped behind the shower curtain and pulled it closed before removing his pants and briefs; he dropped them over the rim of the bath and Leonard scooped them up to place them on top of the laundry hamper.

"Sheldon?"

"Yes, Leonard?"

"Where can I write my part of the book? Can I use the desk in your bat cave? I don't think I'd be able to concentrate if Penny's playing her music too loud…"

"If Penny is at home and playing what she refers to as 'music' too loudly, then of course you may use the bat cave." Sheldon held out the shampoo bottle and Leonard squeezed a small amount into Sheldon's palm; his actions following the same sequence as those performed by Amy the previous morning – shampoo, followed by conditioner and finally the liquid soap. When he heard the water shut off, Leonard held up a towel and Sheldon pulled it around the curtain and briskly rubbed himself dry the best he could under the circumstances.

"Leonard, I can practically hear the gears turning in your brain. Let it go, try not to think about it until I have something concrete to offer you. Come on, help me get dressed and I'll show you the secret to my Meemaw's barbeque sauce." Sheldon nudged the curtain back while still holding the towel in place around his waist. "If you could just slide my briefs and pants up to my knees, I can get them up on my own."

"Jeez, Sheldon…it's not as if I've never seen you naked before." Leonard remarked and was of course, referring to the time that the heat went out when the guys were up in the Arctic Circle. "Just drop the towel and get dressed properly."

"Alright, but I thought we weren't ever going to refer back to that unfortunate incident." Sheldon released his death grip on the towel and Leonard tugged the briefs and pants up to the top of Sheldon's upper thighs before Sheldon turned his back to pull them up over his buttocks, thankfully his pants had a drawstring so he didn't need Leonard to fasten the button. After that things moved swiftly on, and the two men were back in the kitchen; Leonard checked the clock and saw that it was nearly eleven o'clock.

"Relax, the dough has another hour to prove." Sheldon filled the kettle up and set it to boil, he pulled two mugs down from the rack and prepared them for tea.

"So, what's your Meemaw's secret ingredient?"

"What every good Texan recipe should contain…" Sheldon reached into the farthest corner of the top cupboard and pulled something out and set it down on the counter.

"Bourbon? Sheldon, you don't even drink and yet you'd soak your ribs in this stuff?"

"The heat from the oven will soon burn off the alcohol content…you won't even taste it once you've mixed in the other ingredients; trust me though, once you've tasted it my way you won't ever think about ribs in the same way again." Sheldon pulled out a chopping board out from under the counter and set it in front of Leonard. He set an onion and a few cloves of garlic on the board along with a pair of latex gloves. "Chop the onion and garlic very finely, and I'll get the rest of the ingredients ready. Use the gloves unless you want your fingers to stink of garlic all day." Sheldon pulled out ketchup, cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce out of the fridge and placed them on the counter along with a few other ingredients. "Very nicely done, Leonard. Now pour the chopped pieces into the pan and cook it until the onion turns translucent." Leonard followed Sheldon's instructions and after ten minutes Sheldon told him to add a generous glug of the Bourbon. When Sheldon snorted, Leonard added another glug of the potent liquid. "Now, you head over and knead that dough for a little while and I'll take over the sauce. I just need to give it a stir and then add the rest of the ingredients, bring it all to the boil and then let it simmer for a good twenty minutes; we'll leave it to cool a little after that and then pour it over the ribs and let them soak it in until this evening."

"It does smell great already." Leonard headed over to the sink and washed his hands, drying them off on a paper towel. He pulled the plastic wrap off the bowl and reached in to pull out the dough. "What is it that I need to do with this?"

"Knock the air out and then give it a gentle knead. After you've done that you need to shape the loaves and set them on the baking sheet to rise again." Leonard followed Sheldon's instructions and had just placed the formed loaves on the prepared trays when Penny and Amy let themselves back in the apartment.

"Hi guys! We brought lunch back from the deli…Oh boy, what smells so great in here?" Penny threw her bag down onto the armchair and followed her nose into the kitchen. Sheldon had turned off the heat to the sauce and was pouring it into a large shallow roasting pan to help it cool. He offered Penny the wooden spoon and her eyes crossed as she licked it clean. "Oh my God! Please tell me that's what we're having for dinner tonight?"

"Yeah…I chopped the onion and garlic." Leonard stated proudly and Penny rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek.

"That's my guy. Now, Amy and I have stuffed her car full up to the ceiling, do you wanna give us a hand unloading?"

"Sure. Sheldon, will you be okay for a while on your own?" Leonard called over his shoulder as he prepared to follow the ladies back down to Amy's car.

"I'm a grown man, Leonard. I think I can handle getting lunch on the plates." Sheldon waved them away and turned his attention to the contents of the paper bag containing their deli sandwiches; all the while thinking about the book proposals that he was writing in the back of his mind. "Sometimes, it just great having an eidetic memory!" He grinned to himself as he continued to multitask utilising every spare brain cell that he had access to.


	13. Chapter 13

After Leonard, Penny and Amy loaded the spare room with boxes carted over from her Glendale apartment, the four of them sat at the kitchen counter to enjoy the turkey club sandwiches and sweet pickles from the deli. Once they had finished eating, Leonard started to pack the contents of his desk into a couple of flat pack cartons that Amy had loaned him. Penny wandered back to her apartment to finish making room for his desk in the corner of her living room.

Sheldon was dozing lightly on the couch and Amy quietly started transferring some of her textbooks onto the bookcases behind the couch. She arranged them by category first and then alphabetically for easy reference, after emptying each box she folded it flat and stored them in a neat pile at the bottom of the living room closet for refilling with the rest of her belongings.

The bed, couch, bookcases and desk were the only heavy items left to transport over. Penny had helped her box up her clothes, linens, DVD collection and books leaving only the kitchen staples left to bring over. Everything else was to remain in the apartment, and Amy realised that she would need to purchase a chest of drawers and a wardrobe before she could even start to unpack her boxes of clothes. She scribbled a quick reminder to herself and pinned it to the noticeboard next to the fridge. Amy looked around the living room and thought about where to put everyone for dinner that evening and again on Saturday, she had a sudden thought and snapped her fingers.

"Leonard, I need to pop out for a bit; could you keep an eye on Sheldon for me and remind him that he needs to take his medication around four?" Leonard looked up from his packing and nodded.

"Sure, everything okay?"

"Yes, I just need to head over to my storage unit and grab a couple of things. I won't be long."

"Do you need a hand with anything?" Leonard set his boxes to one side and rose to his feet.

"No, I just want to collect a couple of collapsible tables that I have over there. I thought we could set them up in here for dinner this evening."

"That sounds great, I'll get Penny to give me a hand in a minute and shift my desk across the hall…maybe we can move Sheldon's desk over a bit and set the tables in a row along here?" Leonard gestured to where his and Sheldon's desk were currently situated and Amy smiled.

"That would be wonderful, it will give everybody the chance to sit together when we eat and then they can be packed away again when they're not in use." Amy offered a workable solution to the dining table dilemma and Leonard wished he had thought about collapsible tables two years ago. He waved Amy off and started taking boxes over to Penny's leaving both apartment doors open so that he could keep an eye on Sheldon at the same time. Sheldon woke up just as Leonard and Penny were trying to wrestle the fully assembled desk through the doorway.

"Y'all might want to think about taking the legs off first." Sheldon muttered sleepily as Leonard scraped the skin off his knuckles when he got his hand trapped between the frame and the edge of the desk.

"I did suggest that to wonder boy but he insisted that it would fit." Penny called out from the hallway and Leonard just set the desk down as he scrambled in the closet for a screwdriver. Sheldon yawned as he looked at the time. It was nearly three o'clock and the ribs should have been soaking in the marinade long before now. He eased himself to his feet, and weaved a little before finding his footing.

"Sit back down, Sheldon. Amy already took care of the ribs; they've been soaking since one o'clock." Leonard called over from the depths of the closet and Sheldon glanced around the room, noting the neatly filled spaces in the bookcases and the lack of mess.

"Speaking of Amy…where's she at?"

"She said that she had a couple of things to get out of her storage unit, some folding tables that we can put up for dinner and then store them away again afterwards."

"Hmm…now why didn't I think of that?" Sheldon mused as he sat back on the couch and thought it over.

"Exactly what I said to her earlier, we could have prevented that whole debacle if we had used a folding table up on the platform. We'd still be able to eat together but you wouldn't have to look at it all of the time." Leonard emerged triumphant from the closet and started taking his desk apart in order to fit it through the door.

"Hmm…exactly." Sheldon agreed and looked around the apartment for something to occupy himself with. He noticed a vibrant pink post it note pinned to the noticeboard and wandered over to take a look. When he saw what Amy had written he headed down the hallway to his bedroom calling back over his shoulder; "I'll be in my room for a little while, reorganising a few things."

"Okay Sheldon, Amy said to remind you to take your pills at four o'clock."

"Thank you, Leonard." Sheldon replied as he walked past the bathroom and into his room. He opened the top drawer of his dresser and started taking out handfuls of white briefs, placing them in a pile on his bed. He cleared out the entire drawer and did the same for the second, giving Amy exactly half of the dresser space. Sheldon opened the third drawer down and placed his briefs in a neat pile next to his undershirts, and then in the last drawer he placed his socks next to his carefully folded pyjama sets. He walked over to the wardrobe where his few clothes were hanging, each item spaced precisely five centimetres away from the next. With one swift move he slid them all along, condensing his clothes into one small section. Sheldon turned his attention to the shelving unit next to the hanging rail and started piling his t-shirts on top of each other in order to give Amy space to store her cardigans. He shrugged his shoulders when he saw how untidy his shirts appeared, but figured they could always be re-ironed and straightened up once he had full use of both of his arms again.

Sheldon heard Amy talking to Penny out in the hallway and stepped out of his room to greet her. Unfortunately they had to make do with waving at each other across the remnants of Leonard's desk as he still hadn't managed to get all of the legs removed.

"Bestie, could you come down to the car with me and give me a hand with a couple of these tables?" Amy asked after realising that Leonard and screwdrivers did not make a happy pairing. She had set one of the tables against the wall in the hallway and had left the other three in the car.

"No problem, my Nebraska hands are at your service." Penny said it before Sheldon had a chance to, shooting him a quick grin over the desk and he waved her away with a 'pshaw'.

"I'll put the kettle on and we'll have a cup of tea. Amy, what would you like?"

"Lemon and ginger, please." Amy called back from the landing and Sheldon shook his head slightly at her whimsical method of combining two different bags in the same mug.

"Penny?"

"The same please, it sounds intriguing." Penny followed Amy down the stairs as Leonard battled on with the desk.

"And for you, Leonard?"

"Something with a bit of zing to it…I think I'm going to need it."

"Lemon zest? Orange pizazz?" Sheldon offered and after a moment Leonard chose the Orange option and Sheldon busied himself getting the mugs ready and placing the teabag string gently over the side of each.

"Ah! Finally…" Leonard sighed as he managed to get the last leg removed from the desk and then carried the desk top over to Penny's apartment; setting it against the wall for the time being. He walked back over to Sheldon's and picked up the legs and fittings before taking them all over to Penny's and placing them all together. As he walked back into 4B he looked around with his hand on his hip. "I can't believe how much bigger the place looks already, with only my desk gone. It's amazing what a difference it's made."

"Imagine what it will be like when my desk goes into your old room and Amy's is tucked away on the platform." Sheldon remarked from behind the counter. "Think of the extra space we'll have then, and that's we as in Amy and I…not we, as in more games consoles and a permanent dance mat, Leonard."

"Aw…but it would make Raj so happy." Leonard teased with a little smirk and Sheldon's upper lip twitched slightly in response. Penny reached the doorway with a single table under each arm and made a similar comment about the space as she stepped through the open door.

"Wow, I always knew that your apartment was bigger than mine…apart from the obvious fact that you have a two bedroom place, but this is huge!" Penny set the tables down against the kitchen counter and looked over to where Amy was carrying the last of the tables under one arm and a bag containing table linen under the other. "Here, pass those over to me and I'll go and throw them in the wash." Penny wiggled her fingers toward the table linen and Amy passed the bag over with a grateful smile.

"Thanks, bestie. Make sure you select the low temperature setting and shake the folds out before putting them in. It will make them easier to iron after they're dry."

"Okey dokey." Penny grabbed her mug of tea from Sheldon and headed down to the laundry room in the basement. Amy walked around the counter to wash her hands so that she could start preparing the battered onion rings for dinner. Sheldon wrapped his arm around her waist and nuzzled into her neck.

"Hi." He whispered softly and Amy placed her hands over his and replied back just as softly.

"Hi."

"I found your note and cleared out a couple of drawers in the dresser and moved some things around in my closet so that you can unpack a couple of your boxes."

"Thanks, you didn't have to do that. I could have waited until I found something to match your dresser." Amy stretched up on tiptoe so that she could press a kiss against his jaw; wrinkling her nose at the way his bristles scratched against her face. "We've got to get rid of that before tonight…you'll have Bernie ditching Howard to climb all over you."

"Now, I've got that image running through my mind…not a pleasant image, I might add." Sheldon grimaced at the thought of Bernadette smothering him with her bubbly personality. Amy grinned and stepped away from Sheldon's embrace so that she could pull on a pair of thin, disposable gloves in order to slice the onions.

"How do you want these tables set up, Amy?" Leonard called out from the other side of the living room and Amy looked up with a slight frown.

"Well, if we pushed the couch back a few inches and swivelled Sheldon's desk around forty five degrees…we should be able to fit three tables end to end in front of the counter. I've got six chairs in the trunk of my car, and we could use stools to make up the numbers." She glanced over at Sheldon to gauge his reaction, he nodded in response, and Leonard started to nudge Sheldon's desk around. Amy watched him for a while before turning her attention to the dinner preparations.

"Sheldon, could you warm up the oven for me and pull a pan down for me, please? What else do you want with the rib and onion rings? Do you fancy a potato salad or I could cube the left over potatoes from breakfast and fry them up?" Sheldon turned the dial on the oven and pre-set the temperature, before reaching up to pull down a heavy based frying pan from the overhead cupboard.

"Hmm, what about a side of rice and a potato salad? That way Leonard could have the rice, he wouldn't be able to have the salad because of the dressing." Sheldon suggested and Amy agreed immediately.

"Leonard, does that sound good to you?"

"Just about anything sounds good to me, I'm starved!" Leonard remarked as he finished moving Sheldon's desk and crossed over to the couch, testing the weight by leaning against the arm. "Okay, that's one heavy couch...I might need Penny to move this with me."

"I'm sure she'd be able to move it fine without your help." Sheldon smirked over at his friend and they both started laughing, and that's how Bernadette, Raj and Howard found them as they let themselves in.


	14. Chapter 14

"Hey guys! I hope you don't mind us coming over too early, but Raj and I finished earlier than expected due to someone letting off a fire alarm at the University and we picked Bernie up on the way."

"No prizes for guessing who set the alarm off in the first place." Bernadette groused lightly as she walked into the kitchen and set a bottle of red wine down on the counter. She looked over to see Sheldon's new look and winked at him. "Looking good, Sheldon."

"Amy…" Sheldon turned his puppy dog eyes on Amy and she took his hand to lead him into the bathroom.

"Excuse us for a moment, Sheldon wants me to help him shave. Bernie, could you slide the ribs in for me please? They're resting in a pan at the bottom of the fridge, the oven's set really low and they will take a while to cook."

"Sure, anything else I can help with?" Bernadette asked as Sheldon started to tug Amy down the corridor.

"Umm, you might want to see how Penny's getting on in the laundry room? She's washing some table linen for me and I'm not entirely sure if she knows how the iron works. Okay, Sheldon…I'm coming!" Amy smiled apologetically and hurried along to catch up with her anxious boyfriend. They slipped into the bathroom and soon the sound of Sheldon's electric shaver could be heard buzzing from inside. Bernadette pulled the ribs out of the fridge and slid them into the oven. She turned around and noticed the half-finished onion rings sitting on the cutting board.

"Raj, Howard – give Leonard a hand with whatever he's trying to do over there. Leonard, you wanna fill me in on what's going on? Where's your desk, and what's with the table linen? Spill it, buster!" Bernadette pulled on another pair of latex gloves, letting each one fall into place with a little snap. Leonard swallowed hard, the sound bringing up memories of years of painful doctor's visits before they finally diagnosed his lactose intolerance.

"Umm…my desk is in pieces over at Penny's. Amy wants us all to sit at tables tonight, which is why Sheldon's desk has been turned around and the couch needs to be pushed back against the bookcase. She came up with the brilliant idea of using folding tables; that way we can all sit together but Sheldon doesn't have to look at them afterwards. And…she's moving in…Sheldon no longer wishes for her not to be classed as his roommate." Leonard spilled out everything he had learnt that day and took a quick puff from his inhaler when he finally ran out of air.

"That poor girl…does she even know what she's letting herself in for?" Howard remarked quietly as he and Raj helped Leonard shift the sofa back a few inches.

"I think she knows…put it like this, when I arrived this morning they weren't even dressed; and Amy was coming out of Sheldon's bedroom."

"Are you sure she wasn't just inside checking he was still alive?"

"Pretty sure, especially when she remarked that he had also asked if she would no longer object if they didn't not share the same bed." Leonard smiled in recollection, whereas Raj, Bernadette and Howard wore the same puzzled expression.

"That's a whole lot of double negatives in there, Leonard." Bernadette remarked, trying to puzzle out the strange turn of phrase. It was Raj that figured it out first and he let out a breathy sigh of delight.

"Oh my, that is so romantic! Sheldon asked her to **move** in with him; just like Penny and Leonard." Raj emphasised the word 'move' and Howard finally caught on.

"That dirty dog! How long do you think it's been going on for?"

"Not very long…I don't think they've progressed any further than actually sharing the bed, purely for sleeping. They seem quite comfortable around each other though, you all saw how they were acting last night; it was even more apparent today, now that everything's sorted. Amy started moving some of her things over today, it's just the heavy stuff that is left now. She mentioned something about hiring a van and a couple of men to move it over for her." Leonard plopped himself down on the couch and raised his feet up onto the coffee table that Raj had moved over.

"What's left to bring?" Howard asked as he moved the over-sized armchair nearer the couch, assisted by Raj.

"Um…her couch, bed, a couple of bookcases and one kick ass desk. I think her bed's going into the storage unit in Glendale, but the other bits are coming here. I need to ask her whether she can fit my old bed in there as well; if not I need to try and sell it before her couch gets here. She told Sheldon that he can have the spare room as his bat cave – her couch, his desk and a couple of book cases are going in there; along with the television from his room that will be permanently hooked up to one of his old gaming systems."

"Don't get any ideas, Howard." Bernadette raised the vegetable knife and waved it in warning. "We don't have a spare room and if we did, it certainly wouldn't be used to house all of your toys!"

"I guess some fella's just have all the luck." Howard muttered to Raj, "Not only can she cook, but he gets his own Fortress of Solitude as well."

"I know." Raj commiserated, "Still, you can always come over to my place – it's one big Fortress of Solitude now that Emily is working out of town a lot. She's putting in a lot of hours over at a clinic near Hollywood, so it gets very lonely whenever she works away."

"Thanks, Raj." Howard cheered up a little at the thought of having a little gaming time with one of his best friends and looked over to see whether it was okay with his wife. She was smiling and humming under her breath, so everything was looking good.

Sheldon and Amy came back into the living room, Sheldon was once again smooth shaven and Amy nudged him over to the couch while she fetched his pills for him. "Thanks for finishing up the onion rings, Bernadette."

"No problem, Amy…congratulations, Leonard told us that you and Sheldon are finally moving in together." Bernadette slipped off the gloves so that she could give Amy a quick hug, before sending a smile over to Sheldon. He gave her a little quirky smile in return and reached up to accept the medicine and cup of juice held out by Amy. Their fingers brushed briefly as she took the empty glass from him, and their eyes met and held for a long moment before Howard commented on the folding tables stacked up against the counter.

"So, Amy where did all of the tables suddenly appear from? I don't remember seeing any of them at your place before?"

"My aunt Flora left them to me when she passed away last year. She used to hold Canasta tournaments in her old house and was quite the card shark in her day. I've had them in storage ever since then, and I thought they'd make things a little easier over here."

"Speaking of storage, Amy…I was wondering whether you'd have any room in your unit for my old bed? I'll even arrange for the van and guys to move it over the weekend if you can fit it in." Leonard leant forward on the couch and hoped that she had room, he really didn't feel like going through the whole rigmarole of advertising the bed, and knew that Sheldon would hate a bunch of strangers parading through the apartment to view it.

"Sure, it's one of the larger units over near my old apartment so there's plenty of space. My parent's used it for storage before they moved overseas and they paid up front for another three years." Amy smiled over at Leonard and he let out a huge sigh of relief.

"That's great! I'll make some calls now and see if we can get something arranged for tomorrow or Sunday. I'll cover all of the costs upfront and you can consider it my payment towards letting me use your storage."

"Don't be silly, Leonard; I've already told you that the unit is paid up for another three years."

"I insist."

"Well, thank you, I accept your offer." Amy inclined her head graciously and Leonard nodded as he scrolled through his phone looking for a moving company that could shift a small load over the weekend. He stepped out into the hallway to make the calls and came back inside with a wide smile.

"Okay, we're all set. I've got a van booked for tomorrow morning at eleven am. Two guys will come over here and pick up my bed, moving it to the storage unit. One of us will have to follow the guys over there to let them in. They will then head over to Glendale to pick up the rest of Amy's things and then bring it over here; I paid extra to ensure that they carry it all up to here and not just leave it in the lobby."

"Okay, will you be okay following them to the storage unit, Leonard? I will need to head over to my apartment early in the morning to pack up the rest of my desk and kitchen things."

"I can meet you there if you like? I was going to come over here and lend you a hand with the cooking anyway." Bernadette offered with a smile. "I think we've still got some empty cartons left over from over move, so I can bring them along with me."

"That would be great, Sheldon you will need to stay here and supervise the moves with Penny, are you be okay with that?"

"Certainly, I make an admirable supervisor and will be best placed here anyway." Sheldon raised his arm slightly to indicate that he would be of little use anywhere else. "As soon as the bed has gone, I can start organising which books I should transfer over to the bat cave. I know I won't be able to do much without my desk or your bookcases, but I can make a list of the ones I would feel would be most useful." Sheldon sneaked a look over at Leonard who nodded slightly as he realised that Sheldon was thinking about their future possible collaboration.

Penny wandered back into the apartment just as Leonard was about to say something and he lept up to take the neatly ironed pile of linen out of her hands.

"Hey, Penny! Look who arrived a whole three hours early!" He exclaimed as he placed the linen onto the kitchen counter and pulled Penny over to the couch. "Someone, and I'm not naming names –Howard- set the fire alarms off at the university and got let out early. So instead of heading home they all decided to come over here instead, isn't that nice of them?"

"Yeah, a real treat…" Penny muttered sarcastically as she slipped off Leonard's lap and moved over to the middle cushion. "So, what are we talking about? Warlord's of Ka'a? Age of Conan? Star Wars Trek thingy?"

"Actually, we were talking about picking up the rest of Amy's things tomorrow. Leonard has arranged for a van and a couple of men to do the heavy lifting; he will meet them at the storage unit where Amy has offered to store his bed, Bernie is going over to the apartment with Amy to help pack up the rest of her things; so you've picked the winning ticket – you get Sheldon duty." Howard delivered the good news and sat back in his seat, hoping that no one would spot his deliberate exclusion of himself and Raj; he couldn't catch a break as Penny caught him out immediately.

"What are you and Raj going to be doing while everyone else is busy?" Penny asked suspiciously, Sheldon chimed in before they could formulate a reasonable explanation.

"Howard and Raj will be making sure that both the platform area and the bat cave has suitable power supplies and cabling in place to run our laptops; they will then ensure that our networking is in place by running a secure patch through to the university – enabling a secure link is maintained at all times, just in case we ever feel the need to work from home that is."

"That's a lot of work, Sheldon…it's going to take more than just a day to get it all set up." Howard mused from the armchair and Sheldon just gave him a sardonic glance in response. "Well, I guess we could take a look now…we have a couple of hours until dinner is ready anyway; it's not as if we came over expecting vintage video game night or anything." Howard got up from the chair and continued to mumble as he made his way up to the platform and jerked his head over for Raj to join him.

"Amy, those linens are lovely; where did you pick them up?" Penny called over from the couch and Amy looked up from where she was mixing up the batter for the onion rings.

"Pottery barn, or Target…I don't really remember. My mother bought them before they went overseas and then decided that they were too masculine for their new place. I liked the colour so I kept them for myself."

"Do you want me to start setting up the tables now that the furniture has been moved around?" Penny offered, then she and Bernadette flicked the tables open and started moving them into place. Three of the slightly rectangular tables were placed end to end; starting where Leonard's desk used to sit and finishing just before Sheldon's desk. Penny flipped the dark blue tablecloth over the whole length of the joined up tables and smoothed it flat with the palm of her hand. Bernadette set out the white napkins with tiny dark blue piping around the edges at equally spaced intervals and then crossed over to the kitchen to grab a stack of plates from the cupboards.

"Where are the chairs, Ames?" Penny asked with a slight frown. "We didn't leave them behind did we?"

"No, they're still in the trunk of my car." Amy replied, reaching over into her purse and tossing Penny the keys. Penny turned around and tossed the keys over to Leonard.

"There you go, wonder boy; make yourself useful and help me bring the chairs upstairs for Amy."

"Hey! I've been useful all day…tell her, Amy." Leonard whined as he headed toward the door.

"He did help with the bread…and he managed to get the legs to his desk unscrewed; he might not be able to fit it back together again, but at least it's over in your apartment…" Amy agreed with Leonard's statement but neglected to tell Penny that both of their men had forgotten to put the loaves in the oven after the second proving and so she had to throw all of the dough away as it had collapsed into an unusable heap when she'd got back with lunch.

"Okay, I believe you – it doesn't get you out of helping me up the stairs with the chairs though." Penny kissed Leonard's cheek as she walked over to meet him at the door, she slipped her hand into his and tugged him out into the hallway. She grinned cheekily at him and started leading him down the stairs.


	15. Chapter 15

No one remarked when Penny and Leonard finally arrived back at 4A with the chairs in tow more than an hour later. Raj and Howard had been huddled together over on the platform discussing the best way to run a patch through to the university; debating the merits of tapping into the fibre optic cabling running under the city or setting up a secondary Wi-Fi connection running on high speed broadband. They were still discussing it with Sheldon chipping in with his opinion every so often when Bernadette and Amy started setting out the platters of ribs, onion rings, bowls of rice and a selection of chips and dips along the length of the table.

Howard stopped speaking mid-sentence as his nose started to twitch as the rich barbeque sauce teased at his nostrils. He sniffed the air and headed for the table like a bloodhound on the trail of a scent. "Oh man, that smells so good…those ribs look amazing!"

"You can thank Sheldon for that, he let Leonard follow his Meemaw's secret recipe." Amy smiled over at Sheldon who was making his way over to the table. She finished setting the last of the cutlery in place as Penny headed over to grab the wine glasses and bottle from the counter. Amy followed her into the kitchen and brought back a pitcher of sweet tea and a couple of juice glasses for her and Sheldon.

"You don't want any wine, Amy?" Penny held out the bottle temptingly and Amy shook her head.

"No thanks, I need to be up early in the morning and want a clear head; red wine always makes me a little fuzzy."

"Oh, this is nice; very grown up." Raj exclaimed happily as he approached the table. "And being the gentleman that I am, I will take the stool leaving the chairs to our lovely ladies." He pulled the stool out from under the counter and placed it at the far end of the table, so that he was sitting nearest to Sheldon's desk.

"Thank you, Raj." Bernadette smiled sweetly in response and sat next to Raj; leaving the seat next to Sheldon free for Howard. Leonard, Penny and Amy filled the seats along the opposite side with Sheldon sitting on the far end, closest to the apartment door.

"Okay, Leonard – there's nothing on the table that you wouldn't be able to eat apart from one of the dips that contains sour cream." Amy pointed to the paler of the dip assortment and Leonard smiled gratefully as he raised up his glass; he had opted for sweet tea instead of the wine as red often gave him a migraine.

"I'd like to propose a toast; to our lovely hostess who has, in one day, succeeded where many others have failed – she's made us all sit down at a proper table to enjoy this fantastic feast…to Amy!"

"To Amy!" Everyone raised their glasses in salute and Amy flushed a little at being the centre of attention. Sheldon turned slightly in his seat so that he could reach over and place his hand on top of hers to reassure her. He bent down so that he could whisper in her ear; she nodded in agreement and Sheldon rose to his feet.

"Before we all begin, I'd like to say a little something if I may? I'll be quick, I promise…" There were a few muffled groans from Howard and Raj, but when Sheldon inclined his head slightly when Leonard looked up, Leonard reached for Penny's hand and gave it a little squeeze. Penny looked down at their clasped hands and Leonard gave her a look that advised her to pay attention. She looked over at Sheldon who was wearing a broad smile that radiated pride and happiness…but he was aiming it directly at Amy for once instead of focusing on himself. "I'd like to take this opportunity while it is just us, to thank my lovely girlfriend, Amy, for dropping everything to come over and take care of me. I know that I can be difficult to live with sometimes…" Sheldon paused as Howard interrupted with a sarcastic murmur.

"Really? I hadn't noticed…" Raj sniggered under his breath but stopped when both Sheldon and Leonard glared at him from across the table. "Sorry, Sheldon." Raj murmured and Sheldon turned to Amy.

"I want to thank her for agreeing to make this a permanent arrangement…" Sheldon stopped talking for a moment when Amy jumped up to give him a quick peck on the cheek and a hug around the neck, and then continued as she remained standing by his side. "The silver lining in this whole broken arm thing is that the Universities of UCLA and CalTech have entered into a joint project together and asked Amy to write a series of textbooks for their Neurology programme…so Amy has been granted a six month sabbatical to produce the first of these books and I couldn't be more proud of her than I am right now. Well done, Amy." Sheldon bent down a little to brush a kiss over Amy's forehead and then stepped back a little as an the excited whirlwind otherwise known as Bernadette raced around the table to squeal her delight and pulled Amy into a tight hug.

"Oh, Amy! This is huge! I'm so excited for you! Your own textbooks!"

"Thanks, Bernie." Amy was a little choked up as she returned the tiny blonde's exuberant hug as Penny leant over to whisper in Leonard's ear. "I'm a little confused here, what's going on?"

"Amy's been given the chance to completely re-write the textbooks used by both Universities…it basically means that anyone that studies Neurobiology at UCLA or CalTech in the future will be following whatever she includes in the books. Sheldon mentioned that she will be including write up's of her primate studies with the idea that the undergrad's will try and reproduce her results."

"Ah…so she basically gets to tell all future budding scientists what to do…wow, that really is great…think of all the power." Penny nodded sagely and turned to Amy. "Remember Ames, with great power comes great responsibility…use it wisely Padawan."

"Nice Yoda quote, Penny…but the Padawan was the student not the teacher." Amy smiled as she corrected Penny gently. Sheldon gave her another unexpected kiss, just because she not only recognised Yoda, but managed to get her Star Wars references correct to the right character.

"Ain't she great?" He gave a huge megawatt smile at Howard and Raj; who looked amazed at the fact that Amy was able to correct Penny without fumbling herself.

"What? I've picked up on a couple of things over the last few years…how could I not when we've watched the original trilogy seven times in the last year alone? I've only seen the prequels a few times but I could probably quote a few lines from them as well…'Oh, maxi da big force. Well dat smells stinkawoff' and 'Dis is nutsen' to name but a few." Amy gave a little grimace, "I hate that Jar Jar character."

"Yay! We have a dedicated convert on our hands!" Howard ran around the table to pull Amy into a squeeze. "Welcome to the geek squad, Amy!"

"How wude!" Leonard quoted in Jar Jar's squeaky voice and everyone started to giggle. Howard released Amy and everyone started to tuck into the meal, laughing and joking with each other as they all dived in to grab some ribs.

After the platters had been emptied and the last of the wine poured, Bernadette and Penny pushed Amy over to sit on the couch with Sheldon as they took over the clearing of the table and loading the dishwasher. Leonard and Raj dismantled the tables, placing them inside the living room closet until they were needed again and Howard continued working on the cabling schematic for the new 'office' area on the platform. Once everything was neat and tidy, the gang gathered around the couch to watch a few episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation with Sheldon before starting to gather their belongings and preparing to leave.

"I'll drop Howie off here around nine tomorrow morning, do you want to ride over with me, Amy or take your own car?" Bernadette asked as she slung her purse strap over her shoulder and pulled Howard to his feet.

"Um, I think I'd better take my own car; there's the whole kitchen to empty and we may need to fill both our trunks. I'll bring it back here first, then Sheldon and I can decide what to keep and what to put in storage."

"Okay, see you tomorrow! Raj, you drove over with us, remember?" Bernadette called over to where Raj was snoring lightly from his position on the floor.

"Too tired…" Raj mumbled as he tipped his head back against the leg of the armchair.

"Leave him be, Bernie. When he sobers up a little he can crash in Leonard's old room, I can drop him off at his apartment on my over in the morning." Amy placed a small throw over the Astrophysicist's legs and tucked a cushion behind his head.

"Alright, come on Howard. Let's get moving." Bernadette tugged Howard by the arm as she dragged him out of the apartment, he protested that he was just as tired as Raj but held his tongue when Bernadette threatened to leave him in the hallway.

Leonard and Penny walked over to their apartment shortly afterwards, leaving Sheldon snuggling with Amy on the couch with a snoozing Raj snoring lightly at their feet.

"Today was a good day." Amy sighed happily as she slid her arm across Sheldon's waist and pressed her head into the soft spot just under his left arm.

"Mmm, I agree." Sheldon murmured as he lowered the volume on the television now it was just the two of them.

"Why didn't you tell the others about your book offer?" Amy asked quietly, keeping her voice low as not to disturb Raj.

"I wanted tonight to be about you, and besides nothing has been agreed officially. I would need to get permission from Siebert before accepting any offer from Random House; Siebert's been nagging at me for years to collate all of my papers in one collection, but Stephen thinks that they might be a little too dry and dusty – he advised me to steer away from pure academia which is why I turned away from the idea of writing a text book and started looking at Random House."

"Did you speak with Leonard?"

"Yes, he seems quite taken with the idea; it would mean spending a little more time at the University than I had anticipated – I would need to study more of Leonard's experiments in order for us to decide which ones would fit better with my theories, but I'm sure we can work something out."

"Dude…you're writing a book with Leonard?" Raj sat up and looked over at Sheldon in awe. "I can't believe that you would choose him over me…did our time working together mean nothing to you?"

"Calm down, Raj. I haven't had the go ahead from the University or received a formal offer from the publisher yet; Stephen seems to think that they would accept any drivel that I cared to write, but I wouldn't want to sully my reputation with some worthless piece of fiction."

"Stephen, as in Stephen Hawking?" Raj questioned in disbelief. "Hawking recommended you to a publisher?"

"Yes, he seems to think that I have a marketable skill set; please…don't say anything to the others just yet." Sheldon pleaded and Raj sighed heavily before nodding.

"Okay, Sheldon – but I want first dibs if they offer you a second book deal."

"Rajesh, the original offer was for a three book deal so you may just get your chance." Amy grinned over at the Astrophysicist who started clapping his hands together and squealing with joy. Sheldon nudged her playfully and frowned down at her. "What? You showed me the original offer and it clearly stated that they were prepared to offer you a three book deal."

"Depending on how successful the first one is." Sheldon added.

"I'm not worried about that, Sheldon you are a fantastic physicist and highly dedicated to your field; what else could it be apart from a complete success?"

"Oh, that's so beautiful!" Raj got to his feet and leant over to enfold Amy in a warm embrace, he pulled back slightly to glare at Sheldon. "You'd better treat her right, Sheldon, otherwise you'll face the wrath of an angry Koothrappali."

"Never fear, Raj, I intend to do just that." Sheldon nudged Raj aside so that he could wrap his arm around his girlfriend and kissed the top of her head. Raj beamed goofily at the sight of a loved up Shamy and curled up in Sheldon's usual spot to fall back to sleep again.

"Come on, Sheldon, let's go to bed. Raj looks comfortable there so I will just grab the cover out of the closet and he can stay on the couch." Amy held out her hand to Sheldon and pulled him to his feet, she walked around behind the couch to extract the spare pillow and sleeping bag from the closet before gently laying over the sleeping Raj. She flicked off the lights one by one before taking Sheldon's hand and walking down the hallway into their bedroom, softly closing the door behind them.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: This one is kind of a 'filler' chapter with Sheldon expressing his growing anxiety to Howard when they are left alone in the apartment; but of course using the old 'I have a friend' euphemism!**

Raj woke up the next morning with a pounding head and a mouth that felt like it was full of cotton balls. The apartment was a flurry of activity; Sheldon was busy entering data onto a spreadsheet, pecking away at the keyboard with his left hand and Amy was stripping the linens from Leonard's old bed and stuffing them in the hamper. Sheldon looked over when he realised that Raj was finally back in the land of the living.

"Good morning, Raj! Did you sleep well?" Raj lifted his hand and tilted it from side to side in a 'so-so' gesture. "Amy has prepared a pot of coffee if you would like a cup, and there's a couple of aspirin waiting for you on the counter. When you're more awake there is a spare toothbrush in an unopened packet under the bathroom sink." Raj threw back the sleeping bag and shuffled over to the kitchen to pour himself a mug of the rich, dark brew and after a few reviving mouthfuls was able to formulate a coherent sentence.

"Thank you for letting me stay over last night, Sheldon. I appreciate it." Raj swallowed the pain reliever and walked back over to the couch, cradling his mug of coffee as he sat back next to Sheldon. "What are you working on?"

"Oh, just an inventory of the kitchen equipment for Amy to take with her. It might help her decide how to pack up the contents of her kitchen. She'll be able to place things that I already have into a box for the movers to take directly to the storage facility. Things that I don't possess can be boxed up and we can look at them together – I know that Amy has a particularly lovely set of Le Creuset cast iron pots among her things and I wouldn't mind losing a few of my older pans if we used hers instead." Sheldon finished entering the last of his data and sent the report through to the printer.

"Ah, Le Creuset! I love their stoneware range; what colour are Amy's dishes?"

"Um…I think they call it 'Volcanic' a two tone orange and red colour, she bought them after seeing the set that Bernadette and Howard received as a wedding gift."

"Very nice." Raj nodded in recollection, having partaken in frequent meals with the married couple, before he started dating Emily. He looked up as Amy carried an overflowing hamper of laundry out of Leonard's old room and set it down near the front door.

"That's the bed completely stripped down, were these your linens or Leonard's?"

"Mine, Leonard prefers bold prints and scratchy blankets, whereas I would always purchase plain cotton sheets with a comforter over the top."

"My linens will fit in perfectly then, they are mostly white, cream or pale blue." Amy remarked as she checked her watch for the time. "Anyone for breakfast? I still have half an hour before Bernadette arrives. Oatmeal, French toast, cold cereal?"

"Nothing for me, thank you Amy…food doesn't hold much appeal at the moment; I'll grab something at home a little later." Raj drank a little more coffee and Sheldon opted for cold cereal following Amy over to the kitchen and sitting down at the counter as she prepared a bowl of Raisin Bran for the both of them.

"So, what are you going to do while I'm over packing up my kitchen? Work on your book proposal?" Amy asked as she slid on a stool next to Sheldon, he shook his head.

"No, I need to focus on supervising the move and keep an eye on Wolowitz and Koothrappali; Lord knows what the two of them are likely to hook us up to if I don't pay attention. My mother's already intervened with the CIA and Homeland Security enough times for me already; I don't need another scathing phone call from her. That reminds me, how are we going to break the news to our parent's that we are now living together?"

"Do we have to tell them?" Amy laid her spoon on the edge of her bowl and propped her chin on her raised hand as she looked over at Sheldon. "I mean, I don't want to lie to my parents, but I also don't want them pressuring us into anything we're not ready for either."

"What if we just told them that you have taken over from Leonard as my roommate? If either parent announces their intention to visit, we'd have to retrieve one of the beds out of storage but I know that I have instructed my Mother that all visits require a notice period of at least 72 hours." Sheldon offered an alternative and Amy was just about to reply when there was a light tap on the front door before Bernadette, Howard and Penny all piled into the living room.

"Morning, guys! I left Leonard tinkering with his desk, he'll come over later to follow the guys to the storage unit. All ready for the move?" Penny ran over to the counter and hugged Amy in excitement, and then placed a hand lightly on Sheldon's arm in greeting.

"I think so; I've left the directions to the unit on the counter. Security will have the keys to the unit and they know to expect Leonard with the first delivery and then just the movers with the second." Amy replied, taking her and Sheldon's bowl over to the sink and running a little water over them to rinse out the debris before placing them in the dishwasher. "I've stripped Leonard's bed down this morning, would you mind running them through the wash for me a bit later?"

"Sure thing, anything else you need me to do?" Penny helped herself to a mug of coffee and leant back against the counter.

"Just keep an eye on Sheldon and make sure he doesn't over do things?"

"Amy! I'm not a child…I do know my own limitations." Sheldon sighed heavily and Amy ruffled his hair.

"I know you do, but sometimes you have a tendency to ignore what your body is telling you; I just want you to take care of yourself, alright?"

"Okay, I'll miss you."

"Miss you too, Tex." Amy brushed a kiss over Sheldon's baby smooth cheek and walked over to the closet to gather up the pile of flattened cartons that she stored in there the previous day. "Raj, are you ready to go?"

"Okay, I'll grab a shower, get changed and head back over here in a couple of hours." Raj stated as he and Bernadette followed Amy out of the apartment, leaving Howard and Penny behind. Howard immediately started pulling network cables out of his heavy case and Penny left him muttering to himself as she strolled over to pick up the hamper of dirty laundry. "Do you need anything else washed, Sweetie? I know that with everyone coming over for dinner again tonight your laundry plans are pretty much out of the window." Sheldon looked up from where he was watching Howard set up the new network cables and frowned slightly in response.

"I haven't really given it much thought, to be honest. I know that Amy was separating the laundry this morning; but we didn't get a chance to speak about it further."

"And you're not freaking out just a little?" Penny pinched her thumb and forefinger together, and raised a questioning eyebrow over at Sheldon. He leant forward slightly and lowered his voice a little.

"Did Leonard mention anything to you about what he and I discussed yesterday afternoon?" Penny looked over at Howard and then back at Sheldon, she started to shake her head and then it slowly turned into a nod. "Then no, it's not the laundry I'm 'freaking' out over." Sheldon replied quietly, his shoulders hunched over slightly betraying his anxiety. "I sent an e-mail over to them this morning, asking whether the offer was still valid, but they haven't gotten back to me as yet; as it is Saturday I may not hear anything until after the weekend."

"Sweetie, I'm sure they will agree." Penny pressed her hand lightly on Sheldon's arm and his hand hovered over hers hesitantly, before he made contact letting his hand touch hers as he accepted the gesture of comfort.

"Thank you, Penny."

"No problem, sweetie." Penny withdrew her hand and picked up the hamper again to take it down to the basement. "I'll put this load in and the come back upstairs to get whatever Amy has pre-sorted, I'm sure just this once we can do away with the pre-soaking; you've been wearing button down shirts so they will be easier as they can all go in the tumble dryer. Be back in a jiffy." Penny carried the hamper on her hip as she opened the apartment door and then shifted it to her arms as Sheldon walked over to close it behind her.

As he walked back over to sit on the couch, Howard glanced over with a look of concern on his face.

"Everything okay Sheldon? You looked a little anxious over there for a minute, nothing wrong I hope?"

"Everything's fine with Amy, if that is what you are asking. No, it's something else that's bothering me a little, but I don't want to bore you with the details."

"Sheldon, we're friends aren't we?"

"I would hope so, otherwise why would I have allowed you to come over to my home every night for the past seven years?" Sheldon muttered drolly and Howard chuckled.

"Good one…no, I mean that as your friend, I would hope that you would feel that you could talk to me about anything that was bothering you."

"Thank you, Howard." Sheldon replied with a slightly lopsided smile as he sank back against the cushion in his normal spot, leaning his chin against his uninjured hand while resting on the arm of the couch. "Say you had a friend, let's call him 'Joe' that had been asked by his boss to write a book about his work and this Joe had refused."

"Okay, why did Joe refuse?" Howard sat on the edge of the platform and saw through Sheldon's ploy straight away. He already knew that Siebert had asked Sheldon repeatedly to produce a textbook for the University Undergraduate Programme and Sheldon had refused the offer, due to wanting to move away from his original field of research.

"Let's say that the offer would have meant spending a lot of time dumbing down the material to make it suitable for beginners to understand; and Joe felt that his talents were needed elsewhere." Sheldon stated and Howard hummed a little in response.

"So, what happened to Joe next?"

"What if Joe had a friend that was a well-known author that had recommended Joe's work to a publisher? Joe didn't take the deal when it was offered but now thinks that he could be ready for the change."

"What kind of deal were they offering? Text book, fiction, mass market paperback?" Howard leant forward completely abandoning the cabling and giving Sheldon his complete attention.

"Umm…possibility of a three book deal; not a text book as such, but more of a first-hand look at Joe's field of study discussing various streams." Sheldon didn't want to give too much away, thinking that he had been clever enough so that Howard wouldn't necessarily assume he was talking about himself. Howard nodded wisely and crossed his arms over his chest.

"So, if it were a physics book you would include sections on theoretical particle physics, experimental physics and possibly astrophysics…to use those as an example?"

"Yes, **if **Joe were a physicist then I suppose he would be able to include all of those sections. Perhaps Joe is a baker or a mechanic…I didn't say that he was a scientist, Howard. You really ought not to make assumptions." Sheldon chided him gently and Howard apologised.

"Sorry, Sheldon. I don't see what the problem is. Why don't you…" Howard coughed, "Sorry, I meant to say 'Joe'. Why doesn't he simply ask the publisher whether the offer still stands?"

"He has…but the office is probably closed as he e-mailed them over the weekend. Now he has to wait until Monday to find out; if they say yes then he has to figure out a way of explaining to his boss that he would rather write something worthwhile instead of writing a sucky text book and being forced to teach a bunch of clearly unsuitable undergraduates."

"Maybe Joe's boss would be more understanding if he realised how dedicated Joe would be at work after writing the book? Perhaps if Joe promised to endorse his place of work throughout the book, maybe his boss would even give him time off to work on the project if Joe agreed to still teach part time?"

"Hmm, that might work." Sheldon thought over Howard's suggestions and ran the possible scenarios through his mind. He made a mental note to ask Amy to help him compose a draft proposal to Siebert if he received a positive reaction from Random House; she always managed to find the right balance of words to be able to sway a deal in her favour. "Thank you, Howard…I will pass your advice onto Joe when I next see him."

"No problem," Howard said as he rose up from the edge of the platform, he turned around and then winked over his shoulder – "Joe." He added and Sheldon gasped.

"How did you work out it was me? I never said it was me…"

"You've used 'my friend' a few times in the past, and I've always known you were talking about yourself, Sheldon. You've never been able to fool any of us in that regard."

"Well, I am astounded at your resourcefulness." Sheldon sighed heavily and leant his head back against the cushions.

"Don't look so disheartened, Sheldon. I'm sure that Stephen's publisher will get back to you soon enough."

"Again, you've managed to decipher my hidden meaning. I could have meant Wil, he is a published comic-book writer after all."

"Yeah, well I heard all about your attempt at Pictionary from Penny…" Howard chuckled a little as he remembered Penny stating how badly Leonard and Sheldon had played and then continued; "I can't see you managing to secure a comic-book deal. The only other author I know is Stephen so I put two and two together." Howard would have said more but there was a knock at the door just then and he strolled over to open the door. The movers had arrived to dismantle Leonard's bed and take it over to the storage unit.

"Hey guys, come on in. Our friend will drive over to the storage unit in his car and get you through security. He'll then lead you over to the apartment in Glendale where the rest of the stuff is waiting to be moved." Howard opened the door to let the two men enter the apartment. "Sheldon, do you want to show the guys back to Leonard's old room and I'll pop across the hall to let him know that they're here?"

"Certainly, gentlemen – this way if you please?" Sheldon pressed his arm against the arm of the couch and used it as leverage to help him to his feet. He waved his left hand down the hallway and the movers followed him down the hall.

"Man, that arm looks painful…and recent too." The shorter of the two men remarked, as he saw the way the arm was bound tightly against Sheldon's chest.

"Yes, I took a little tumble on Monday and as a result now have pins in both bones." Sheldon stated as he stood in the doorway of what used to be Leonard's room and waved the movers through.

"Bet it hurt like a bitch…broke my wrist a few years back, but that didn't look half as bad as yours."

"Yes, it is rather painful to say the least." Sheldon agreed as he moved out of the way so that the movers could take the mattress off of the frame and manoeuvre it out of the door.

"Okay, we'll take this down to the truck and then come back up for the frame in a few."

"That's fine, I'll leave the door open for you." Sheldon stated as he made his way down the hallway and crossed over to the kitchen. True to their word, the two movers quickly returned and within ten minutes had dismantled the simple frame and carted it down the stairs in pieces. Leonard grabbed the directions and set off after them with a quick wave goodbye.


	17. Chapter 17

Raj arrived back at Los Robles an hour later when Sheldon was placing the chicken for that evening's meal in a pan of buttermilk; he had set a few pieces aside for Leonard that Amy was going to cook separately.

"Ah, Raj; glad you're here." Howard looked up as Raj stepped through the door. "Can you give me a hand moving Sheldon's desk into the spare room?"

"Sure, Howard. Sheldon, do you have an idea of where you'd like it situated?" Raj crossed over the living room and noticed that Sheldon's desk had been carefully cleared of his notebooks and journals.

"The couch from Amy's apartment is going against the hallway wall with the TV unit under the window; Amy's bookcases will go either side of the unit; so just put it against the wall of my room for now." Sheldon looked up from where he was attempting to cover the pan of chicken with plastic wrap; a difficult manoeuvre with one arm out of action. He gave a sigh of satisfaction when he finally accomplished the task and allowed himself a mental pat on the back for a job well done. "Before you dirty your hands too much, Raj, would you mind sliding this pan back into the fridge for me?"

"Okay." Raj agreed and walked over to pick up the pan. "I see that we're going traditional this evening, will you be dipping the chicken in seasoned flour after it has soaked for a while?"

"Indeed, Raj. I am in a quandary over whether to plump for the single dip method or the flour, egg, flour ratio; what are your thoughts?" Sheldon held the door to the fridge open and Raj slid the pan onto the bottom shelf.

"Hmm, that's a tricky one. I might suggest that using buttermilk would negate the need for the egg, but the twice dipped method does add that second level of taste."

"Hey, Julia Child! You gonna quit with the food talk and give me a hand moving this table, or what?" Howard called over, interrupting the cookery conversation and Raj shrugged apologetically at Sheldon.

"Sorry, Sheldon."

"Pshaw." Sheldon waved the apology away and Raj headed over to take one end of the desk as he and Howard crab walked it down the hallway and into the newly formed bat cave. Sheldon looked around for something else to occupy his mind and sighed wistfully as he looked at his watch again. It had been nearly two hours since Amy had left and he was already missing her presence. He slid his phone out of his pocket and decided to give her a call.

"Hi, Tex!"

"Hello, darlin' – just checking to see how everything is going over there."

"It's going great, the movers should be with you shortly. We decided that we'd get them to move my bed and a few of the surplus kitchen boxes over to the storage unit first and then drop off the couch, TV unit and the bookcases on the way back. Bernie and I have nearly finished packing up the rest of my things and so I should be home within the hour. Leonard is going to be with you shortly, we sent him back with a load of foodstuff from the kitchen."

"Okay, I've put the chicken in to soak and Penny's doing the laundry as we speak."

"What are the boys up to?"

"They've just moved my desk into the spare room. I let the cat out of the bag with Howard…I was feeling a little anxious and he asked me what was wrong. I tried to give him the details whilst preserving my identity but somehow he saw straight through my ruse."

"Are you okay about it now? Are you still feeling a little worried?"

"A little, but I've decided to try and put it out of my mind until after the weekend. I don't want to spoil our dinner plans by being a party pooper."

"I'm very proud of you, Sheldon. You know that right?"

"I know." Sheldon looked up as there was a knock on the door. He walked over to check who it was through the spyhole. "I have to go as the movers are here, I'll see you soon?"

"Yeah, soon. Bye."

"Bye." Sheldon disconnected the call and slid the phone back in his pocket before pulling the door open to the movers. "Hello again."

"Hi… we've got a couple of bookcases that your girl said you wanted in your 'Fortress of Solitude' – whatever the heck that is."

"The Fortress of Solitude is the ice cave where Clark Kent aka 'Superman' finds solace and enlightenment; it is located in the Arctic wastelands and contains a memorial statue of his Kryptonian birth parents." Howard heard the reference and saw the look of puzzlement on the mover's faces. "This way, gentlemen, if you please." He waved his arm toward the spare room and the movers lifted the wooden bookcases and followed him down the corridor.

"I guess neither of them are big on comic-books." Raj stated, shaking his head in almost disbelief. "I can hardly believe that neither of them knew what it meant – they could have picked it up from the original movie series or even the Man of Steel reboot."

"Although it was cunningly disguised as a scout ship in that one, so it could have been easily missed." Sheldon added as he took a seat on the couch. "Say that's put me in the mood for a little vintage Superman. Which one should we watch?"

"Ooh the original, I love the way that he swoops down to save Lois Lane just as she is about to hit the ground."

"I agree that it is one of the best, but let's not forget that it is also rife with scientific inaccuracies. As I've told Penny on a number of occasions that when Lois Lane is falling, accelerating at an initial rate of 32 feet per second, and travelling at 120 miles per hour…"

"Yeah, his arms of steel would slice her into pieces. I still think it's romantic." Raj slid the disc into the Blu-ray player and hit play. The movers came out of the spare room and headed back down the stairs, passing Penny as she carried the dried laundry up from the basement. She walked through the door just as the score began to reverberate through the apartment and grinned over at Sheldon.

"So, is Lois Lane cut into little tiny pieces in this one, or is this the one where he reverses time by flying around the sun?" She asked as she set down the first of the laundry hampers near the couch.

"Spoilers!" Sheldon shouted out at the same time as Raj.

"It's the same movie, Penny." Sheldon added and Penny stuck out her tongue in response.

"They kinda all blend in together after a while. What's the one where his sister shows up in that cute little Supergirl outfit?"

"That would be Supergirl." Sheldon stated, exchanging a wry grin with Raj, "You're referring to the 1984 movie version where Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin, travels to Earth from the remote Argo City, a Kryptonian city residing in a pocket of trans-dimensional space; to retrieve an artefact known as the Omegahedron. Although, in many versions of the Superman universe, she shares no familial relationship with Superman himself."

"Kara was played by Helen Slater, who filled out that itty bitty costume just fiiiinnne…" Howard added as he overheard the end of Sheldon's explanation, giving an exaggerated swivel of his lips and a raised eyebrow wiggle in Penny's direction. She groaned in disgust and threw a pillow at him in retaliation.

"Do you have to make everything sound so lewd?"

"Hey, I'm a man with hot blood flowing through his veins, what else I am supposed to do?" He shrugged and looked up as the movers carefully manoeuvred Amy's couch through the doorway.

"Where do you want this? Back in your fortress thingy?"

"Please. Howard, if you will?" Sheldon looked over to Howard, who showed the men where Sheldon wanted the couch placed.

"Okay, we've got the TV cabinet to bring up next…is that going in there as well?"

"It certainly is." Howard confirmed with a nod and the younger mover whistled between his teeth.

"Sweet set up…games console over there, couch against the wall…nice. I wish I could have a space like this at our place."

"You and me both, brother." Howard muttered under his breath and the two men exchanged a fist bump before the older mover cleared his throat.

"Come on, Danny boy…That unit isn't going to walk up the stairs by itself ya know. And what did you mean about wanting a set up like this? You have one exactly like that – it's called your room."

"Dad…I meant when I get a place of my own; it'd be nice to have a little gaming room set up away from everyone else." The father and son team bantered back and forth as they headed down the stairs again to bring up the cabinet, which only left the desk remaining.

"Guess he still lives with his parent's then." Howard remarked as he perched on the arm of the chair and glanced over to the television where Jonathan Kent had just discovered the baby Superman lying in a ditch.

"What gave it away?" Penny replied drolly and Raj choked back a laugh. Leonard entered the apartment and gave everyone a quizzical glance.

"I just heard the movers arguing downstairs, is everything going okay?"

"Yeah, little Danny wants his own Fortress of Solitude but his Dad said that it was called his bedroom." Raj explained briefly and Leonard hummed under his breath.

"Oh, room envy; well, I guess that Sheldon's agreement with Amy has left us all feeling a little envious. I know that Penny and I don't have the room over at our place, come to think of it, he's the only one of us living in a two bedroom place; unless you count Debbie and Stuart."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. Stuart won't be coming along tonight; he's driving Ma over to Reno and my uncle Benny is letting him join the guys at an all-night poker game."

"So it's just us and Wil again…just like Thursday night." Penny remarked as she rose up from the couch to fetch a bottle of water from the fridge. "Sheldon, did you remember to take your medicine?"

"I don't take them at lunchtime, Penny. Eight o'clock is pain relief and antibiotics, followed by pain relief on its own at four o'clock. It's now barely twelve…Leonard, did Amy happen to mention how much longer she would be?" Sheldon replied to Penny and then turned to Leonard.

"Feeling a little separation anxiety, Sheldon?" He asked and then smiled softly. "She was right behind me as I left, Bernadette was going to pick up some lunch on the way over and Amy probably just followed behind her. Both of their cars were pretty loaded up, so it makes sense that they wouldn't want to leave them unattended for too long. Speaking of loaded up, I brought back a couple of boxes with me; Amy said to keep them away from Raj as he might get dish envy."

"Ooh, the Le Creuset dishes…I'll help you bring them up, Leonard." Raj volunteered with an eager smile and Leonard leant over to murmur in his ear.

"She made a list to rival Sheldon's, Raj…I don't think you can get away with sneaking them out to your car."

"Are you sure?"

"What that she made a list? Or that you can't sneak them away? Cause the answer is 'yes' to both."

"Never mind, I'll still help you up with them though." Raj got to his feet and followed Leonard out into the hall. "Perhaps if I am a very good boy, Santa might leave a set under the tree for me this year." Penny and Howard exchanged glances and silently agreed that 'Santa' might just be persuaded to fulfil Raj's wish that year.


	18. Chapter 18

The mover's had just finished setting Amy's heavy desk on the platform and were leaving when Leonard and Raj brought up the last of the kitchen boxes up from Leonard's car.

"Sheldon, look what I found in the lobby!" Leonard exclaimed as he walked through the open apartment door. Sheldon looked up and his expression brightened immediately as he saw who had followed him into the apartment.

"Amy!" Sheldon cried out happily as he scurried over to the doorway to enfold her in a one-armed hug, and brushing a kiss against her silky soft hair.

"Hey, Tex…if that's the kind of greeting I get when I've only been gone for the morning, I wonder what I can expect after spending a day at the lab?" She asked wiggling her eyebrows expectantly. Sheldon groaned and closed his eyes.

"A whole day? When? Why?"

"Calm down, Sheldon. I didn't mean that I had to go in next week, just that I will have to go over there eventually. I need to collect a few of my papers from my safe and arrange a meeting with President Siebert and my boss to discuss their views on the way they would like the book to proceed." Amy placed her box down on the floor and wrapped her arms around his slender torso.

"Okay, that's good. I've just got used to having you around and it didn't feel right when you weren't here."

"Well, I'm all yours for the next couple of days. How about I take you over to the Lego store tomorrow and we have lunch out somewhere?" She offered, and Sheldon pursed his lips up in thought.

"Perhaps we could go back to that coffee shop where we first met? I've become rather fond of that place ever since then."

"Mmm, we haven't been back there in a while."

"Three months; I took you there on one of our Date nights before I went on my little adventure, you had hot chocolate and I had green tea." Sheldon reminded her and Amy grinned up at him as she pressed a kiss against his neck, the furthest she could reach from a standing position.

"Exactly, we haven't been there in a while."

"Vixen." Sheldon murmured and bent his head so that Amy could reach his cheek.

"Ooohhhh….Shamy action!" Bernadette squealed happily as she came to a halt in the open doorway and saw Sheldon bending down over Amy. "Go on, Sheldon – give her some sugar!" Sheldon looked over at Bernadette with a slightly haughty expression.

"Good grief, Bernadette! I'm not some hippy at a love in; I can't just smother Amy with my affection willy nilly... it's not the second Thursday of the month." Bernadette's jaw locked and her eye's narrowed as she opened her mouth to screech at him like a fish wife; just in time she saw the twinkle appear in his eye as his face relaxed into a goofy smile.

"Bazinga!" Sheldon let out one of his trade mark breathy laughs as he stretched one lean finger out to waggle it in Bernadette's face. "Oh, the look on your face!" He grabbed Amy's hand as he started leading her down the hallway to their bedroom. "Excuse us for a moment…I need to greet my girlfriend properly, and without an audience!" He called out over his shoulder and turned his head to see Howard slump back down in the armchair from where he had half risen to spy on their reunion. Moments later the click of Sheldon's door lock slipping into place had the gang exchanging wide grins and smirking among themselves. Penny walked over to help Bernadette set out the lunch on the counter and after about ten minutes a slightly ruffled Sheldon and immaculately composed Amy reappeared from their room to wander into the kitchen.

"Tea, Sheldon?" Amy offered and Sheldon nodded in approval.

"Chamomile, please." Amy smirked a little at his request, he usually only chose that particular tea when he was in need of relaxation; after their little rendezvous in the bedroom she was surprised that he didn't ask for two bags.

"Don't think I didn't see that little smirk, young lady." Sheldon murmured as he tried to flatten out the furrows in his hair caused by a certain brunette scraping her fingers along his scalp.

"I don't know what you mean." Amy said casually as she set his mug down in front of him and slid onto the stool next to Penny; keeping the distance of the counter between herself and Sheldon.

"Yeah, I saw it too…better watch out, Sheldon. Something tells me that Amy's on the prowl for a little action this afternoon…" Penny nudged Amy's shoulder and grinned over at Sheldon, he simply stared directly into Amy's pool of liquid emerald eyes.

"Good thing I'm injured then, she'll have a better chance of catching me."

"Oohhh…" breathed Bernadette as she set out a plate of sandwiches on the counter. "Is it just me, or is it getting a little warm in here?" She giggled as she waved a hand over her face, before grabbing a few sandwiches and settling on Howard's lap as they ate their lunch together.

"Practically smokin'." Penny muttered as she moved out of range of smouldering heat of Sheldon's eyes. "Getting a little uncomfortable with all the eye coitus going on over there." She mumbled to Leonard as she perched herself on the arm of the couch.

"Uh-huh, now you know how I felt yesterday morning when I saw her coming out of his bedroom." Leonard replied back quietly, his gaze flickering over the sight of his best friend enraptured by his girlfriend. Neither Sheldon nor Amy spoke a single word to each other as they ate their sandwiches, just stared into each other's eyes whenever their fingers brushed lightly together when they reached for a pickle. They finally broke their connection when lunch was over and Amy stood up to walk over to the front door.

"I'm going down to bring up a few more boxes from my car, any volunteers?" Penny and Bernadette leapt to their feet and hustled Amy out of the door; both eager to find out exactly what had happened when they had disappeared into Sheldon's bedroom earlier…

Howard waited until the girls had left and then he raced over to the counter, closely followed by Raj.

"So?"

"So, what?" Sheldon turned his puzzled gaze on the diminutive engineer, Howard edged closer and nudged Sheldon's shoulder.

"Your ten minutes in Heaven with Amy earlier…"

"Again…what?" Sheldon asked, his brow wrinkling in confusion. Leonard joined them at the counter and patted Sheldon's arm.

"Don't worry about it, Sheldon." He turned to face Howard. "Come on Howard, you're just confusing him…Sheldon doesn't even know what that means; leave him alone."

"Spoilsport." Howard grumbled as he left Sheldon alone and walked back over to continue with the setting up of the home office network. Raj slid onto a stool next to Sheldon and propped his chin on him upraised hand.

"Anything you want to share, Sheldon?"

"Raj…"Leonard muttered warningly and the astrophysicist shot him a wounded look as he slid off the stool to slink over to join Howard on the platform.

"It's so unfair, no one ships the Shamy more than I…and now he won't even give me the slightest hint of what's going on behind those closed doors."

"Yeah, if it weren't for us the two of them would never have even met!" Howard agreed as he passed a few data cables over for Raj to fit under the desk.

"Howie, do you really want to sleep on the couch tonight?" The sudden appearance of Bernadette's angry eyes peering over the edge of the couch had Howard swallowing hard as he tried to worm his way out of the situation.

"Bernie…"

"Howie…" She mimicked his whining tone and glared at him over the top of her glasses. "Stop pushing…if they wanted you to know anything they would have told you already; you have to respect their boundaries."

"Okay, sorry Bernie." When she glared at him again and jerked her head toward the counter, Howard shifted on his feet and looked over at where Sheldon and Leonard were quietly talking in the kitchen. Howard sighed heavily and walked over to join them.

"Sheldon…I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable; sorry."

"Me, too." Raj chipped in, having followed Howard over to make his own apologies. Sheldon looked up from his conversation with Leonard to glance at the two men who were looking a little ashamed of their actions.

"Gentlemen…as much as I would love to spill all the details about my whimsical and inventive skills in the bedroom; I fear that your own ways of pleasing your womenfolk would appear woefully inadequate as a result." Sheldon glanced over at Amy who gave him a slow wink in response, before he turned back to his conversation with Leonard, leaving Howard and Raj spluttering with disbelief and everyone else giggling helplessly. Amy shrugged when Penny whispered something in her ear.

"What can I say that Sheldon hasn't already said; whimsically inventive sums it all up in a nutshell!"

"What?" Penny screamed in her ear and Bernadette nearly choked when her sip of water got caught in her throat… Amy and Sheldon looked at each other and nodded before saying simultaneously;

"Bazinga!"

Once everyone had calmed down a little, and mopped up spilled tears of laughter and overturned bottles of water; Amy moved into the kitchen to start on dinner while Sheldon supervised the setting up of the shared desk space on the platform and the office area in the spare room. Leonard had reassembled Sheldon's old desk and was helping Raj fix the whiteboards permanently to one of the walls.

Penny and Bernadette had popped out to buy some drinks and pick up some ice-cream for dessert and while they were gone, Wil arrived having secured a seat on an earlier flight. He rapped on the door lightly before poking his head around the door.

"Hey guys, I hope you didn't mind me coming over earlier than expected; I dropped my bags off at home and headed straight here."

"Not at all, Wil. Come on in and take a seat, can I get you a drink?" Sheldon walked over to greet his guest and waved his hand across to the armchair.

"Nah, I'm okay; thanks. So, what's going on here?" Wil sat down in the armchair, which was currently turned around from its usual position so that the back of the chair was against the kitchen counter. Amy had been curled up in the chair, carefully watching Howard set up the network before she had got up to start on the dinner preparations.

"Oh, Howard's setting up a new network in order for us to access the mainframe databases at the University; it will make it easier for us to work from home whenever we need to." Sheldon explained, and Wil assumed he meant himself and Leonard.

"Cool, so I guess Penny didn't want your sciency stuff cluttering up the apartment then, Leonard?" Wil addressed Leonard who had crossed the hallway to pick up a box of Comic-books that Sheldon had earmarked for the sanctuary. He paused in the living room and looked back over to Wil in surprise, before remembering that Wil had missed the important announcement.

"Huh? Oh, no. It's not for me; this is Amy's setup…she's been offered the chance to write a Neurobiology text book in a joint project between the two universities."

"Really? That's great, Amy! You must be thrilled," Wil smiled over at Amy and then frowned. "But…why have you got it set up here instead of your place? I don't understand."

"This is her place now, Wil. Sheldon asked Amy to move in, and Heaven knows why, but she accepted." Leonard stated, giving Amy a teasing grin and she threatened him with the potato peeler.

"When? How?" Wil looked from Sheldon to Amy and back again, "You didn't say anything on Thursday, when did this all happen?"

"Thursday night, after everyone had gone home. He asked and I said yes." Amy said with a warm smile for Sheldon. Wil noticed that his friend looked far more at ease with Amy than he'd ever seen before, but there was still a hint of tension behind Sheldon's eyes and he didn't think it had anything to do with the little brunette with the emerald eyes…

"That's great, man! I'm so happy for you both…" Wil stretched out a hand to clap Sheldon on the shoulder and felt the other man tense slightly, before accepting the touch.

"Thank you, Wil." Sheldon said finally, and gave him a slight upturn of his lip in a facsimile of a smile. Raj wandered over to give Amy a hand with the dinner and she set him the task of peeling the rest of the potatoes while she looked in the fridge trying to decide on what other vegetables to prepare.

"Tex, do you want corn or biscuits with the chicken?"

"How come I have to choose? Can't we just have both?" Sheldon called back and gave her his best koala face. "Please, darlin'?" Wil looked over at Leonard in surprise, having never heard Sheldon speak with such open affection to his girlfriend before.

"That's what they do now, you get used to it eventually. She calls him 'Cuddles' or 'Tex' and he calls her 'darlin' or 'vixen'." Leonard left Wil thinking about what a difference a few days had made as he continued to fill the bookcases in the spare office with things that Sheldon had requested. Raj had already moved the TV unit under the window and had hooked up the old Xbox console, and all that was left were the last few Comic-Books and whatever Sheldon wanted on his desk. Wil was just about to open his mouth to speak when the landline rang and Sheldon leant over to pick it up.

"Good afternoon, you are go for Sheldon Cooper; please state your business."

"Doctor Cooper, President Siebert here; I hope your recovery is going well?"

"Hello, President Siebert; I'm recovering well thank you, but I'm sure you didn't just call me at…" Sheldon paused to check his watch. "Four-thirty on a Saturday afternoon just to enquire about my health. What can I do for you, sir?" Sheldon shifted uncomfortably on the couch, and Howard leant over to flick the phone onto speaker so that Sheldon could lay down the handset.

"Well, Doctor Cooper, I've just had rather an interesting conversation with Maryanne Hartley – does that name ring a bell with you at all?"

"I don't think so…No, I don't recall that name coming up in conversation." Sheldon frowned as he tried to place the name but failed; with his eidetic memory he was certain that he'd never come into contact with the woman in his life.

"Well, she seems to know an awful lot about you, Doctor Cooper. When were you going to tell me that you were planning on taking another sabbatical?"

"I'm sorry, I don't quite follow?" Everyone was remaining quiet in the apartment as they all wandered over to listen in on the conversation. Amy had left the kitchen to perch next to Sheldon on the couch, and Leonard had abandoned filling the shelves to that he could eavesdrop as well.

"I have in front of me an e-mail from Maryanne Hartley, who is the personal assistant to one Stephen Hawking…now are you following me, son?"

"Oh…I didn't know her name was Maryanne – Stephen usually just refers to her as Hartley. Why would Stephen Hawkin's assistant be writing to you?"

"Oh, I don't know; probably because she thought that I might already be aware of the books that you were contracted to write for Random House!"

"I haven't been contracted to write one book, let alone more than one." Sheldon corrected President Siebert absentmindedly, as his brain started to think over all the possible scenarios that would explain why Stephen Hawking's assistant would have assumed the contract was in place. "Stephen mentioned a few months ago that he might be willing to put in a good word for me with his publishers, but I certainly haven't entered into any contract or negotiations for said contract."

"Have you checked your e-mails today, Doctor Cooper?"

"Um…not since this morning…Excuse me a moment." Sheldon arched an eyebrow over at Howard who bustled over to fiddle about with some connections.

"Ah…sorry, Sheldon. The mover's must have popped a cable when they put the desk down. I'll just change it out, bear with me one second…" Howard disconnected a few cables and made a few tweaks before nodding in satisfaction. "That should do it."

"Leonard, would you mind?" Sheldon gestured to his laptop and Leonard logged into Sheldon's e-mail account and what he saw had him gulping hard and raising his eyebrows.

"You might want to take a look at this, Sheldon." Leonard turned the laptop screen around to show Sheldon and the lean physicist leant forward to read the message, his eyes scanning over the document quickly.

"Oh my!" Sheldon muttered as his face paled and his eyes started twitching.

"Someone grab him!" Leonard called out and Wil stretched out a hand to prevent Sheldon from toppling off the edge of the couch.

"Doctor Cooper! Doctor Hopfstadter! Would someone might telling me what the heck is going on over there?" President Siebert's voice crackled into the room and Leonard flicked the switch to remove him from speakerphone.

"It's Leonard here, um…Doctor Cooper can't come to the phone right now, he's received a bit of a shock and didn't take the news particularly well."

"I bet he didn't. Now, you tell him from me that he's getting all the time that he needs…the publicity alone could fund this institution for years!"

"You're not angry about it?"

"Heck no! It's not every day that one of our Junior Professors gets given a five book deal before even publishing a single written word; I guess that when they heard that Professor Hawking had given him a glowing recommendation and even volunteered to write the introduction for every book what else could they do but to sign him up? This is going to be a great year for this University, Doctor Hofstadter, a very great year. We have Doctor Fowler working on her Neurology textbooks and now Doctor Cooper being offered a golden opportunity like this…I don't want him rushing into anything though, tell Doctor Cooper to contact the University's Legal Team on Monday; I've arranged for them to take a look over his contract to make sure that he is getting the best possible deal…I've asked them to look over your contract as well as Doctor Koothrappali's."

"Sorry, what was that?" Leonard stuttered out, certain that he had misheard. He waved a hand over to Raj and pointed at Sheldon's laptop. Raj brought the laptop over and Leonard hissed at him to check their e-mail accounts.

"I've asked them to look over the contracts for yourself and Doctor Koothrappali at the same time…Didn't Doctor Cooper inform you that he wanted to make sure that you both received recognition for your contributions? Doctor Hofstadter?" President Siebert found himself talking into dead air as Leonard hit the floor in a dead faint.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: I am clearly not a scientist and so had to spend a fair amount of time researching the different fields of physics for this chapter, so any inaccuracies are my own…It made sense in my head anyway! **

Howard calmly stepped over Leonard's prone body and picked up the squawking handset and started to speak. "President Siebert? Howard Wolowitz here, whatever you told Sheldon and Leonard has made them faint dead away; I'll get them to call you back when they wake back up again."

"Thank you, Mr. Wolowitz; no need for them to call me back, just make sure that they both contact the Legal Department on Monday. Have a good evening, and enjoy the rest of your weekend." President Siebert rang off and Howard stared at the handset for a moment, before placing it back in the cradle. He looked down at where Leonard was out cold on the floor and then over to where Sheldon was slowly starting to come around, his head gently cradled in Amy's lap.

Raj let out a girlish shriek as he finally managed to weed his way through his spam e-mails and found himself rendered mute by what he read. He flipped the screen around so that Howard and Wil could see what had made President Siebert sound so cheerful…

Sheldon had been offered a book deal potentially worth millions of dollars, and he had made sure that Leonard and Raj were included; both of them getting a very lucrative deal and full credit for their contributions.

"What's going on?" Penny and Bernadette entered the apartment and saw the stunned faces of Wil and Howard; Sheldon being cradled by Amy and Leonard still unconscious on the floor. Raj ran over with the laptop and pointed at the screen, still unable to speak. Bernadette quickly scanned the e-mail and then re-read it to make sure that she wasn't seeing things.

"Oh…Did you know, Howie?"

"Sheldon might have mentioned something in passing this morning, but he didn't think anything would come of it. Did you see how much they are offering him?"

"I did…What do you feel about this, Amy?"

"Sorry?" Amy looked up with a puzzled expression, everything that Leonard had spoken to Siebert had been in private and so she wasn't fully aware of anything that had happened since Sheldon had passed out in her lap.

"You guys didn't tell her?" Bernadette shrieked and both Sheldon and Leonard groaned a little as the piercing shrill brought them to near consciousness.

"Tell me what?" Amy asked, stroking Sheldon's hair tenderly back from his forehead.

"They only went and offered Whack-a-doodle a boatload of money for writing his books, that's what!" Wil filled her in, stealing Penny's name for their geeky friend, he jerked a thumb over at the struck dumb Raj, and groaning Leonard. "He somehow even managed to get Doctor's two and three in on the deal as well."

"What?" Penny screamed out, as Leonard's head slipped off her lap as she rose to her feet to lunge for the laptop. She had dropped the grocery bags near the door and rushed over to his side as soon as she saw the state he was in; now he was left to his own devices as she flicked through the e-mail to read the contract.

"Oh My God!" She squealed and started jumping up and down in excitement, "This is amazing! We need champagne!"

"I agree, I'll pop out and get some while we wait for Sleeping Beauty one and two to wake up." Wil got to his feet and checked his back pocket for his wallet.

"I'll come with you, I feel like a little fresh air." Howard got up as well, he was happy for his friends but couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of jealously that he wasn't able to be featured in the books; but physics and engineering were entirely different fields of study.

"Sheldon doesn't drink, Wil. Could you maybe pick up a bottle of sparkling apple or grape juice for him instead? He can drink it out of a champagne flute."

"Sure thing, Amy." Wil smiled understandingly and then he and Howard left. Bernadette sat down on the couch next to Amy and Raj fell into Wil's abandoned chair, still reading that same e-mail over and over. A groan from Sheldon had everyone looking over to see him opening his eyes slowly and peering around from where he was draped over Amy's lap.

"What happened?"

"You passed out, sweetie." Penny said gently, "So did Leonard, so I wouldn't worry too much about it."

"Oh, I see." Sheldon twisted his head around slightly so that he could look up at Amy. "Are you angry with me?"

"Angry? Why on earth would I be angry with you, Sheldon?" Amy brushed his hair back so that she could look into his eyes.

"Because I was offered a better deal than you were, I won't take it if you don't want me too." Sheldon murmured, reaching up to capture her hand with his free one.

"Cuddles, I love you for thinking of me, but don't worry about it. I am very happy to be working on a purely academic textbook – whereas I know that your book is going to be something amazing and different. Why didn't you tell me about Leonard and Raj though?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise; I spoke with them briefly about a possible collaboration, but didn't even know whether it was something the publishers would even consider. Apparently they were in full agreement and I was able to procure separate contracts for them both. I'm still a little awed by the whole thing…what if I can't do it? They want five books, Amy; spaced out over a couple of years. What if the first one is a disaster and I fail?"

"I simply won't let you." Amy assured him, bringing their clasped hands to her lips and brushing a kiss against the back of his hands. "As my bestie is fond of saying; 'I've got your back, Jack,' and you've also got Raj, Leonard and even Howard to support you too."

"I know Debbie is a pretty decent typist, Sheldon. If you get tired of henpecking on that keyboard, we can get you a Dictaphone and we can get Debbie to transcribe it for you." Bernadette offered and started tapping out a message on her phone. A few seconds later it vibrated in response, and she read the reply. "She said that she would love to help Howie's little friend and Stuart wants to know if he can draw your illustrations."

"Oh, dear Lord…they all want a piece of me." Sheldon gave a wry grin as he looked shyly over at Bernadette. "Bernadette, I did ask about Howard as well; I wouldn't want him to think that I didn't deliberately include him… I would need to read the proposal fully but President Siebert didn't mention any contract for him, so I guess they didn't accept all of my suggestions."

"It's nice of you to include him, Sheldon; but isn't Howie's field a lot different from yours? How would you have even made it work?" Bernadette smiled sweetly at Sheldon for thinking to include in his project but simply couldn't make the connection between the physics part and the engineering part.

"Oh, quite simply really. Here, let me show you." Sheldon rose up from the couch, with Amy giving him a helping hand. He beckoned for the ladies to follow him into the spare room where he walked over to the newly placed whiteboard on the wall and made a few rough sketches with a marker. "Excuse the mess; I am not as proficient with writing with my left hand as I am with my right." He made a crude drawing of a rippling stream.

"I as you know am a Theoretical Physicist, I search for new frameworks for physics." Sheldon drew a bank on one side of the stream to indicate that it represented his field of study. "Leonard is an Experimental Physicist – his job is to test that framework to weed out the possibilities that my research comes up with." Sheldon tapped on the stream itself, drawn to represent Leonard's work. "Howard's field is Applied Physics; his role is to build the things that could be useful to mankind in the not so distant future." Sheldon drew a bank on the other side of the stream and then sketched out an arch connecting the two sides of the stream. "So you have theoretical physics on one side of the stream and engineering on the other. Howard is like this bridge; filling the gap, if you like, between the theoretical forefront and engineering. Howard could easily link in to every single other aspect of physics…theoretical, experimental and even Astrophysics."

"So, he'd be like the bridge connecting you all." Bernadette tapped the sketch and Sheldon nodded.

"That's right, I'll keep trying; but it may not be the approach that they were looking for. They were more interested in my views on the theories behind Physics, rather than the applications themselves."

"Sheldon, I think it's great that you want to include Howard, but please don't make the mistake of creating a big issue out of it. I don't want you losing your opportunity by forcing them into something that they clearly aren't interested in. I'm sure Howie would offer to help you out with…"

"Howie's gonna be too busy for anything that you've volunteered him for." Howard interrupted Bernadette's impassioned speech by walking through the door and reaching over to plant a sloppy kiss on Amy's cheek.

"Wolowitz, control yourself please!" Sheldon tugged him away from Amy and pushed her slightly behind him as he glared across at Howard who was lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Well, I didn't think you'd appreciate it if I planted a smooch on you. Whatever you did, Sheldon…I love you!" Howard couldn't contain himself any longer and thrust his iphone in Sheldon's face. "Look!"

"How can I focus with you shoving your phone up my nose?" Sheldon leant back and squinted at the screen. He read the e-mail quickly and then a happy little smile appeared on his face, and he nodded over to Amy. She squealed and ran around from behind Sheldon to enfold Howard in a warm hug.

"That's so great!"

"I got in, Bernie! I don't know what Sheldon and Stephen did, but I got in!" Howard threw his phone over to his wife who read the e-mail and then burst into tears.

"Howie! I…I…" She couldn't speak and simply wrapped her arms around her husband and they hugged each other tightly.

"What's going on?" Wil asked from the doorway. "Howard got an e-mail and ditched my in the liquor store. He ran off screaming his head off like a little girl."

"They agreed to everything I asked…" Sheldon said with a happy grin. "I got all of my friend's involved in the book deal and we'll be writing parts of it together. Leonard has the most input as our fields are the closest, but I got a deal for a section on Astrophysics, Applied Physics and engineering as well. That won't be for some time though, as they are likely to form the third and fourth books in the series, so they will have time to negotiate a sabbatical from the University. President Siebert has already agreed to lend us his full backing as long as we agree to ensure that the University is presented in its best light throughout the series."

"Wow…the geek squad just got geekier. I have to say it, Sheldon, I am impressed."

"I didn't have very much to do with it actually. I just mentioned that I worked with a great bunch of guys and that it might be nice to have a few different viewpoints throughout the book. The publishers then made the decision to expand it into a four book series, focusing each on a different field. I'm not completely certain what they have in mind for the fifth but they mentioned the possibility of having it co-authored by Stephen himself."

"Again, wow!" Wil looked suitably impressed, Leonard had woken by then and came into the room looking a little sheepish.

"Sorry for spacing out a little, it just came as a bit of a surprise. Sheldon, I thought we were just gonna work on a couple of chapters together?"

"As did I, Leonard. Having read a little more of Howard's proposal it seems as though our little endeavour has just grown exponentially." Sheldon sat down on the edge of Amy's old couch and looked at where his friends were gathered around him. "I think this could be the start of an awfully big adventure, and I couldn't have hoped for a nicer group of people to share it with."

"Aw, Shelly!" Penny leant over to wrap her arms around the lanky physicist and then Bernadette ran over to kiss his cheek as well.

"Ladies, please! Enough of the hippy dippy!" Sheldon leant away, sheltering his injured arm by curling his body around his right side. Amy took pity on him and rose to her feet, holding out her hand for him to take.

"Come on, let's go and finish getting ready for dinner. Raj finished the potatoes, I need someone to mix up the coating for the chicken, someone else to prepare the corn and a volunteer for the gravy. I'll do the biscuits; Sheldon, you're on table duties."

"Got it." Sheldon nodded, Leonard followed him down the hallway to get the tables into position so that Sheldon could get the table linens out of Amy's stash.

"I'll take the corn." Penny volunteered, "Everyone knows my cooking isn't worth a damn, so food or wine prep is my forte."

"I'll do the coating for the chicken, as long as you tell me exactly what to do. My kitchen cupboard are full of Ramen noodles or tins of soup, I eat most of my meals either on set or take out." Wil turned up his lips in an exaggerated pout and everyone laughed, even Sheldon, although his was his usually breathy exhalation rather than a full blown chuckle.

"Amy doesn't approve of too many take-outs, which is why we haven't had a single one this week, or restaurant meal either." Sheldon announced and Wil turned pleading eyes to his new friend.

"I'll be your best friend for life if you promise to feed me once in a while."

"Hey, I'm her best friend so she ought to think of me first!" Penny pushed Wil on the shoulder slightly and turned to bat her eyelashes at Amy.

"Your my best girlfriend alright, Penny; but Sheldon is definitely my **best friend**, so I have to defer to him in these matters." Amy stated with a loving look at her boyfriend.

"Uh-oh, eye coitus alert." Raj murmured to Howard and Wil turned around to see what they were on about. One look over at the way Sheldon's eyes were locked onto Amy's told him all he needed to know. He cleared his throat a little uncomfortably.

"So, what about this chicken then?" Bernadette strolled into the kitchen and started rattling around looking for a couple of flat dishes. She sprinkled a mix of flour, salt and pepper into one dish and cracked a couple of eggs into the other.

"Here you go, whisk up the eggs until they are pale. Then you dip the chicken into the flour, then the egg and then back into the flour again. I'll get the skillet ready for frying, and pre-heat the oven. We're going to fry them up to give the coating a nice colour and then finish them in the oven." Amy walked back around the counter just as Bernadette had finished showing Wil what to do with the chicken and she made sure to mention not to forget the two pieces that had been set aside for Leonard.

"Wil, don't forget that you need to put Leonards' on a separate tray once they've been coated, so that they don't get mixed in with the others."

"Okey dokey, boss." Wil nodded as he continued to dip, coat, dip, coat each piece of chicken, laying them out on a sheet once he had finished. Bernadette scooped up the pieces with a pair of tongs and slid them a few at a time into the sizzling pan where they hissed and crackled as they hit the oil. Soon, the delectable scent of frying chicken was teasing at their nostrils and more than one stomach grumbled in response.

"Oh boy, that sure smells good!" Sheldon remarked as he crossed over to fetch a handful of utensils from the kitchen drawer. Leonard had helped him lay out the table linen and was now gathering the plates to set the table. Howard murmured something in Amy's ear and she pointed to where a few of her unpacked kitchen boxes were stored behind the couch.

"The box marked glassware, they should be packaged within layers of dish towels." Howard nodded and went over to rummage behind the couch, emerging a few moments later clutching several delicate champagne flutes in his hands. Penny passed him over a clean cloth to give them a wipe over, but it was hardly necessary as Amy had washed every single item she had packed up, whether it was destined for Goodwill, the storage unit or the kitchen of 4A.

Although the kitchen area was small, everyone had their own task to concentrate on and surprisingly they all managed to stay out of each other's way as they cooked together. Within another hour, they were sitting around the tables as Wil poured the sparkling apple juice for Sheldon and Bernadette and filled everyone else's glasses with champagne. He raised his glass.

"I'd like to thank Amy for allowing me to join your feast tonight, and hope that it leads to the first of many delicious meals to come; without her none of this would be possible. To Amy."

"To Amy." Everyone raised their glass and toasted the blushing brunette, who looked down at her plate with embarrassment. Leonard, Raj and Howard all got to their feet at the same time and turned to face Sheldon.

"Sheldon, how can we ever thank you for the tremendous blessing you have given us today? Mere words will never be enough…so…" Leonard started and then paused when the words got too much. Howard whispered something to Raj who leant over to whisper to Leonard, he nodded and then looked over to Sheldon with a solemn expression.

"**qatlho', MajQa** Sheldon." All three slapped their hands to their chest before bowing their head as they spoke in unison. Sheldon gave them a full wattage smile and replied in a guttural tone.

"**qatlho**'. Dif tor heh smusma." He added as an afterthought, raising his hand in the traditional Vulcan salute.

"Peace and long life." Amy whispered softly in response, which earned her a lengthy but closed mouth kiss from Sheldon, for recognising his phrase and responding appropriately.

Nicely pronounced, guys." Wil clapped enthusiastically and leant over to whisper the translation to Penny. "Basically the guys said 'thank you and well done' to Sheldon and he said 'thank you' in return; just your basic Klingon. Then he said 'live long and prosper' which prompted Amy's reply."

"Although sometimes it is spoken the other way around." Amy remarked and looked down the table as Penny gave her a wide eyed look of disbelief.

"Way to make the rest of us look bad, Ames."

"Well, bestie, if you had wanted Leonard to move on with your relationship a few years ago; you should have done what I did and joined in with the Star Trek and Star Wars marathons. It got me my man didn't it?"

"It sure did, darlin'." Sheldon acknowledged with a wry grin. "This little lady knows how to quote Han Solo with the best of them."

"I know." Amy murmured quietly and the guys all looked at her in amazement, Sheldon's eyes blazed with a flash of blue fire as he leant over to press a firm kiss against her soft lips again.

"Did she? Did he?" Howard gaped at the sight and turned to Raj who nodded, blinking back tears.

"I think they did."

"Did what?" Penny didn't understand why the guys were blubbering like they were watching the funeral scene from 'Beaches' – even Wil was smiling and appearing a little misty eyed. Leonard blew his nose loudly as he sat down in his chair and reached for Penny's hand.

"Honey, didn't you pay attention to any of the Star Wars plots?"

"A little…they all go a bit blurry after the first ten hours. Fill me in quickly, 'cause I kinda feel like the only girl that didn't get her period."

"Kinda gross, but anyway. In Episode V Leia tells Han Solo that she loves him and he replies…"

"**I know**." Chanted Raj, Howard, Wil, Leonard and even Bernadette. She shrugged over at Penny.

"Come on, Penny. Even I knew that one, you really did sleep through a lot."

"So…?" Penny tilted her head over to where Sheldon and Amy were talking quietly over their clasped hands at the end of the table.

"So, Amy said it; and from what Sheldon remarked it's not the first time. It's basically a full out declaration of love, Penny. Jeez, you really do need to start paying more attention." Howard sat back in his chair with his arms folded across his chest. Bernadette snuggled against his side and whispered in his ear; to which he replied quite adamantly; "No, you don't get to be Han Solo every time!"


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: So, I wanted to give you a little Shamy fluff in this chapter to make up for the lack of it in the last couple...but it kind of ran away from me and ended up a little more intense than I first had planned. M Rated due to sexy beast that seemed to appear from nowhere and took over Sheldon's body...**

The next few weeks passed quickly, Sheldon had his stitches removed and a full cast fitted to his arm and was able to leave it out of the sling for longer periods during the day. What he liked best was the fact that he could go back to wearing his two layers of t-shirts rather than a button down shirt. Amy settled into life at Los Robles and with Sheldon far easier than either of them had ever thought. After the first two weeks spent at home taking care of Sheldon, she went back to work at the University making sure that all of her research papers and study notes were up to date, not wanting to leave anything unfinished before she took the time away from the lab to work on her textbook.

Wil spent a lot of time with the gang; with Sheldon's arm out of action and Stuart living full time with Debbie; he filled in the fourth spot on the paintball team and afterwards it became a tradition for everyone to come over to Sheldon and Amy's for Sunday dinner. Now that Amy had returned back to work, she relaxed her rules slightly with regards to take out dinners and so the Thursday night pizza parties were reinstated. Sheldon still had the guys over for vintage games nights but they were moved over to Thursdays instead of Friday and they tended to hang out in the spare room while the girls took over the living room for their giggly chats.

Sheldon was still officially on sick leave from the University and so hadn't made any formal plans with regards to starting his own writing. He, Leonard, Raj and Howard had met with the Legal Department to discuss their contracts and after being assured that it was a very generous offer; they had all signed on the dotted line accepting the proposal. Sheldon had declined the offer of a literary agent and had dealt with the publishers directly. Random House had sent someone out to California to meet with him and everything was moving along smoothly. President Siebert had even offered Sheldon the pick of the latest crop of undergraduates to use as his assistant but Sheldon had remembered the unfortunate incident with Ramona Nowitski and shuddered with horror as he refused the offer.

"That's it, I am now officially on a six month sabbatical." Amy entered the apartment and Sheldon paused the DVD he was watching to get up and make his girlfriend a hot beverage. Amy set a box containing the last of her hard copy research papers on the edge of the platform and walked over to the kitchen to take a seat at the counter. "Hi, cuddles." She murmured as she slid her hand along the edge of the counter to run her fingers along the hem of Sheldon's outer t-shirt. He batted her hand away and clicked his tongue in disapproval.

"Not now, darlin'; I've got a kettle full of hot water in my hands, you get me all hot an' bothered like that and I'm likely to spill it everywhere."

"So, put down the kettle and give me a proper hello." Amy murmured as she trailed her fingers further under the hem so that she was stroking the thin undershirt, making it ride up slightly with each pass.

"Dear Lord, woman! You really are a vixen this evening, aren't you?" Sheldon looked up to the ceiling as if he were praying for guidance, before setting down the kettle and turning around so that he could wrap his lean arms around Amy's waist. She grinned happily as she snuggled into his chest, breathing in the seductive scent of talcum powder and warm male.

"Mmm…that's my favourite smell in the whole world." She murmured against the crook of his neck and felt Sheldon press a kiss against her temple.

"What is?" He murmured back, gently stroking his hand down her side and lingering at her waist.

"That mix of talcum powder, soap and Purell. It's something that is uniquely you, Sheldon and I don't think I will ever forget it."

"Hmm…yours is apple shampoo, mint toothpaste and chocolate brownies."

"Why chocolate brownies? You know I don't approve of eating chocolate unless it is an emergency or special occasion." Amy leant back against Sheldon's arm so that she could look at his face. Sheldon gave her a little smirk and dropped his head to press a tender kiss against her lips.

"Mmm….yeah, chocolate brownie." He hummed against her lips and his tongue darted out to swipe across her lower lip, almost as if he could taste the warm, gooey dessert. "That's what we had for dessert on Valentine's Day, every time I kiss you it reminds me of that night – that's my favourite taste in the whole world."

"Hoo…" Amy cooed lightly and Sheldon smile against her lips as he tugged her a little closer into his body and deepening the kiss. Long minutes passed and they were both a little ruffled when they finally came up for air. Sheldon released Amy reluctantly and she patted her hair down a little to flatten it and tucked her blouse back into the waistband of her skirt.

"Guess the water's cooled a little too much now. Do you want me to make you another cup of tea or would you like a cold one?"

"I'll take a bottle of water, please." Amy asked and fanned herself discretely as soon as Sheldon's back was turned. That was by far the most intimate of greetings they had ever exchanged and she was feeling more than a little bit warm.

"There you go, darlin'." Sheldon passed her the water and they walked back over to the couch. Sheldon was sitting back in his usual spot now that his arm was out of the sling and Amy slipped her shoes off so that she could curl her legs up on the couch as she nestled against his side.

"What were you watching?" She asked as she took a sip of her water to soothe her dry throat.

"Um, Empire Strikes Back. I can put something else on if you like."

"No, it's okay. I'll watch a little with you and then I'll probably just take a shower and go to bed."

"Don't you want anything to eat?"

"I'm not very hungry, Sheldon. I had a late lunch at the lab, and then had a long afternoon. I'm just a little tired. Can we just snuggle for a bit while we watch the rest of your movie?"

"Little lady, you just sit right there and don't move. As your boyfriend, it is my job to ensure your happiness and wellbeing; so that's exactly what I'm gonna do." Sheldon got up from the couch and walked back into the kitchen to rummage around for something that was quick and easy to prepare. Although his arm was out of the sling and he had greater mobility, it was still painful when he tried to do too much and he wasn't capable of lifting anything heavier than a half filled kettle. "You can carry on watching if you like, I won't be a couple of minutes."

"I'll wait for you, it's not the same if I watch it on my own." Amy called back, she knew where Sheldon was in the movie and it was one of her favourite scenes – Princess Leia was attempting to make repairs to the damaged ship and Han Solo comes along to give her a hand. Sheldon gave her a little huff of agreement and a few minutes later came over to the couch with a plate heaped in little triangles.

"Yummy, toasted cheese – my favourite!" Amy reached over for one of the small triangles before Sheldon even had a chance to sit down and he smirked a little as he winked back at her.

"I know." Amy grinned over at him as she shifted over to let Sheldon sit back in his spot; she'd bought a large corduroy storage box in the same shade of beige as the armchair and it had become the place that Sheldon propped his feet up on whenever they watched television together. It had a stuffed lid and so doubled as another seat whenever the whole gang dropped by. Sheldon let out a sigh as he scooted lower in his spot, stretching out his lanky frame over the storage box and set the plate of toasted cheese in his lap. Amy snuggled against his side as he raised his arm to rest over her shoulder; she didn't even mind when the rough edges of his cast tangled with her hair a little, she just sighed in contentment and reached for another piece of toast as Sheldon resumed the movie.

_Princess Leia struggled with uncoupling one of the manifolds and sighed as Han Solo reached around her to uncouple the device with ease._

_"Hey, Your Worship, I'm only trying to help."_

_"Would you please stop calling me that?" Leia asked and Han smirked a little at her huffy response._

_"Sure…Leia." Leia sighed again as she turned back to flip a few switches on the wall behind her._

_"You make it so difficult sometimes."_

_"I do, I really do. You could be a little nicer, though." Han watched Leia as she tried to twist a connection into place and knew that she wouldn't appreciate his assistance. "Come on, admit it. Sometimes you think I'm all right." Leia twisted the pipe a little too hard and hissed as the pipe pinched the skin on her finger and she left it with a little huff, turning around to suck the sting out of her forefinger._

_"Occasionally, maybe…when you aren't acting like a scoundrel." _

_"Scoundrel? Scoundrel?" Han mused as he picked up Leia's hand without even thinking about it and started to massage the pain away. "I like the sound of that."_

_"Stop that!" Leia tried to pull her hand out of his grasp and Han gave her a little smirk._

_"Stop what?"_

_"Stop that." Leia almost whispered as she looked at their clasped hands. "My hands are dirty."_

_"My hands are dirty, too. What are you afraid of?"_

_"Afraid?"_

_"You're trembling."_

_"I'm not trembling." Leia denied, her eyes opening wider as Han moved in closer and bent his head to whisper near her ear._

"_You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life."_

_"I happen to like nice men."_

_"I'm nice men." He murmured as his face hovered inches away from her beckoning lips._

_"No, you're not. You're…" Leia found herself unable to speak as Han pressed his lips forcefully to hers and she returned the kiss….._

Amy felt Sheldon shift position slightly on the couch and then looked down to see that their hands were tightly clasped together. She had been so absorbed in the romance of the scene that she hadn't even realised that Sheldon had removed the plate from his lap and her head was now resting on Sheldon's upper chest with her legs practically draped across his lap. She went to move and Sheldon looked down in concern.

"What's up, darlin'? Do you want me to stop the movie again?"

"Uh…no, I just didn't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"I'm not uncomfortable." Sheldon denied and brought his free hand up to stroke the top of her head. "You just settle down and enjoy the rest of the movie."

"Okay." Amy happily agreed and curled herself further into the curve of Sheldon's body, removing her hand from his clasp so that she could wrap her arm around his torso. Sheldon was a little grumpy when Amy took her hand away but found that he was growing rather fond of the feel of her slender arms around his waist. He turned his gaze back to the screen but was unable to give it his full attention as Amy's fingers were tracing random patterns under his shirt against the small of his back. He shifted a little in the seat and decided that two could play at that game. Feigning interest in the action taking place in a galaxy far, far away Sheldon casually draped his arm against the side of the couch and let his lean fingers drift over the side of Amy's neck. Only his fingers moved, the rest of his arm remaining pressed against the side of the couch, whenever Amy looked up, his eyes were fixed on the screen; not even a twitch of his eyes giving away his intent.

Amy's fingers grew a little more daring as she attempted to distract her boyfriend away from his beloved movie. She added a light scraping of her fingernails and felt Sheldon's involuntary hiss escaping between his teeth.

"You okay, cuddles?"

"Yeah…just a little twinge in my arm. Nothing to worry about, let's just enjoy the movie." Twinge in my arm, my eye! Amy thought and decided to make things a little more interesting. She left one hand caressing the hem of Sheldon's shirt in the small of his back as she inched the other one back a little to start a similar tracing pattern along his side and across to his flat abdomen. Sheldon's muscles tightened under her fingers as his breath caught in the back of his throat. "Vixen! He hissed out and reached down to still her hand. "Behave yourself, woman."

"What if I don't want to?" Amy peered up at him through the lenses of her glasses and faster than Superman could remove his disguise; Sheldon had whipped off the glasses from her face and tossed them lightly onto the coffee table. This time it was Amy rather than Princess Leia that found herself unable to speak; Sheldon devoured her lips in a consuming kiss and left her completely breathless. Despite the heavy cast on his arm, Sheldon somehow managed to reverse their position on the couch completely and by the time he finally raised his head it was to find that he was pressing Amy's body deep against the cushions and leaving her in no doubt of his body's reaction to her nearness.

"Wow…where did that come from? Not that I'm complaining, mind you – it was just a little bit unexpected."

"What did you think would happen woman? You can't touch me like that and not expect **it** to happen."

"I didn't mean **that**, Sheldon." Amy's brief glance at the bulge in his trousers and her wide eyed expression had Sheldon feeling a moment of smugness, before his cheeks flushed as he realised that he was rubbing up against her leg like a dog in heat.

"Oh!" He gave a startled squeak and tried to move away, but Amy's tight grip on his waist prevented him from leaving her.

"Shh…It's okay, Sheldon. Just relax…" Amy loosened her grip a little and started to rub soothing circles along his waist in an attempt to calm him down.

"Uh…not helping with the situation, darlin'." Sheldon's deep gravelly tone rumbled from his chest and he started breathing heavily. "If you won't let me get up, I'd advise you to keep very still for a couple of minutes to let me get under control."

"What if I don't want you under control?" Amy breathed against his ear, sending little shivers down his spine in reaction; making his hips twitch reflexively.

"You don't know what you're asking…"

"Oh, but I think I do…Doctor Cooper…" Amy whispered huskily against his neck and pressed a moist, open mouthed kiss where his collarbone was just exposed from the neck line of his t-shirt.

"Vixen! You know I love it when you call me Doctor." Sheldon muttered against her lips as he pressed a string of kisses from her lips to her ear, where he nibbled lightly before moving down to nip gently at the soft skin at her nape. Amy turned her head slightly to allow him better access and he smiled against the side of her neck as he continued to leave a string of kisses at her nape. They were both breathing heavily and Sheldon groaned lightly as Amy's legs shifted under him and he was suddenly pressed against her warm centre. "We've got to stop." He stated gruffly, but made no attempt to leave the couch; if anything his body pressed a little closer to Amy as his hips rocked slightly against hers; only the thin barrier of their clothing preventing them from making full contact.

"So why aren't you leaving?" Amy murmured as her head fell back against the cushions as she felt his erection pulsing against her aching core.

"In a minute…" Sheldon muttered against her neck as his groin started taking control of his body and was thrusting gently forward.

"Ah…there, right there." Amy's hands suddenly reached down to grasp Sheldon's buttocks in a firm hold; keeping him pressed right where she needed him most.

"Uh-huh…" Sheldon's mind was incapable of formulating a coherent thought, his body taking control and moving of it's own accord. In some distant part of his mind he was horrified that he was rutting up against her like he was overcome with the Vulcan blood lust of Pon Farr. That part of his brain shut down completely as he gave himself over to the sensations overtaking his body. His hips thrusting harder and faster against Amy's body, he could feel her burning heat where her skirt had ridden up around her waist despite the thickness of his own pants. The leather on the seat of the cushions started to squeak and he heard Amy let out a high pitched scream before he gave one last thrust before the stars exploded behind his eyes and he slumped against the cushions, struggling for breath.


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: M rated Sexy Shamy times ahead...if that's not your thing then look away now and check back in a couple of chapter's time...**

Sheldon opened his eyes a few minutes later and slowly detangled himself from Amy, he smoothed his shirt back into place and grimaced at the sticky feeling of his pants. He moved away to sit gingerly on the edge of the couch and timidly spared a glance over at Amy who was still sprawled out flat on her back. Instead of looking dismayed at what they had just done, she was laying with a look of sleepy satisfaction on her face.

"I have to say Sheldon that was the most amazing hello you've ever given me." She winked lazily at her boyfriend and sat up slowly to twist her skirt back into position.

"You don't hate me for mauling you like that?" Sheldon muttered, twisting his fingers together anxiously in his lap. Amy reached over to still their movements before climbing over to sit herself square on his lap. "Umm, I'm all messy and sticky down there. I don't want you getting it all over you…" He tried to avoid her probing gaze and felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment. Amy merely shifted her skirt out of the way so that she could straddle him completely and forced him to face her.

"Sheldon, what we shared was a beautifully intimate moment, and I don't want you to ever feel ashamed of how you feel. I loved every single minute of it, and if that's as far as we ever go – then that's enough for me."

"Really?" Sheldon asked, his tone laced with disappointment and Amy chuckled a little as she picked up on it.

"You tryin' to tell me something, Tex?" She murmured teasingly as she leant forward to press a delicate kiss against his cheek.

"Well, I'm not a fan of the after effects." Sheldon gave a little shudder at the thought and vowed to wash himself with his eyes closed; the horror of what was smeared across his briefs and pants was not a sight he particularly wanted to see. "But…what happened during; I could get used to that; in time."

"Wow, that's something coming from someone who up until February hadn't even kissed me properly."

"I know." Sheldon murmured as he returned Amy's light kiss with one of his own.

"If you're a fan of what happened during with all of our clothes on, imagine what it could feel like when we're actually naked!"

"Amy!" Sheldon gave a gasp as he felt himself stirring back to life and Amy grinned wickedly at him as she deliberately rubbed herself along his length as she slid off his lap. "Wait! Where are you going?"

"To take a shower…you're not the only one that needs to... you know, clean up a little? Women tend to get a little damp during coitus as well as men, I guess you knew how to get me really excited."

"Really, I did?" Sheldon gave himself a mental pat on the back and looked a little more pleased with himself.

"Yeah Tex, you did real well for someone who didn't even touch me properly." Amy quipped as she headed down the hall to go and collect her nightwear from the bedroom.

"There's more? What do you mean? You, um, well you seemed to enjoy it." Sheldon followed Amy into the bedroom and stood leaning in the doorway as she collected her pyjamas and clean underwear from the dresser.

"You really need to read that book that Leonard gave you, Sheldon." Amy advised him as she brushed past him to enter the bathroom. Sheldon followed her like a lost puppy and wrapped his arms around his waist as he shuddered with revulsion.

"I don't think so, I only read the introduction and it was enough to give me nightmares for weeks."

"That's a shame…now you'll never be able to experience all that my beckoning pelvis has to offer." Amy said as she disappeared behind the shower curtain to remove her underwear. She slipped off her panties and threw them over at Sheldon who caught them reflexively, grimacing slightly at the wet lace soaking into his fingers. He tossed them into the laundry hamper and called out through the curtain.

"I think you might have had a little accident due to all the excitement, you may want to practice a few pelvic floor exercises to strengthen your bladder."

"That's not urine, Sheldon."

"Well, what else could it be? Dear Lord woman, they were practically soaked!"

"Go and look it up Sheldon. I suggest you look for female ejaculation and try not to hyperventilate too much." Amy suggested as she soaped the perspiration away from her body, letting the heat from the shower drain away the last of her tension. She heard Sheldon leave the bathroom as she massaged shampoo into her long hair. Dipping her head under the direct spray she failed to hear Sheldon returning into the bathroom until the ripping away of the shower curtain had her yelping in surprise.

"What the hell, Sheldon?"

"I am a God!" He proclaimed as his hungry eyes roved over her lush female form. "Did you know that it's quite rare for a beginner to reach that state of arousal? Yup, Leonard maybe the romance ninja of Los Robles Avenue, but I am the Sex God!"

"Get out!" Amy tried to wrestle the curtain out of his hand but Sheldon held it in his firm grip and refused to let go. He stepped over the side of the bath fully clothed and leant over to deliver a lush, warm, open mouthed kiss to Amy's surprised lips; swallowing her gasp as his tongue flicked out to dip into her mouth. "Umm…" Amy managed to reach her hand behind to turn off the shower, not wanting Sheldon's cast to get too wet. Her movements caused her slick body to rub against Sheldon's clothed limbs and he deepened the kiss as he fumbled for the fastening of his pants.

Still keeping their lips firmly locked together, between them Sheldon and Amy managed to get his pants and briefs down to his ankles where he kicked them off to lie in a pool of soapy water. Hating to break contact for even a second, Sheldon reluctantly tore his mouth away from Amy's but only long enough to divest himself of his two shirts before diving back in to capture her mouth in another long, lazy kiss; where his tongue slipped over to explore the ridges of her teeth and tease the roof of her mouth. This time it was Amy that tore her mouth away to pant for breath. She pressed a hand against Sheldon's bare chest to prevent him from pulling her back to him and he looked at her in surprise.

"You don't want to?"

"It's not that…it's just that things are moving a little too fast and I think we need to slow things down a little."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, we're skipping out a lot of steps along the way. Do you remember Leonard explaining the bases to you?"

"Yes." Sheldon nodded as his fingers lingered on the soft skin of her waist, rubbing small circles against her slippery skin.

"Hey, eyes up here Doctor Cooper." Amy tapped his chest to get his attention and Sheldon realised that he had been staring at her waist rather than focusing on her expression. "That's better. Well kissing is kind of like first base, we're doing okay on that score; so no worries there. But you're talking about skipping second and third and entering into the home run!"

"What's second and third again?" Sheldon asked wrinkling his nose up as he tried to remember all of the details that at the time he had been trying to avoid the conversation. Rather than answering with words Amy reached for his left hand and placed it on her breast. Sheldon's fingers flexed as he felt her nipple immediately bud under his palm and he instinctively started up a soft massage.

"Hoo…" Amy breathed out quietly and her soft exclamation was enough to bring Sheldon's focus up to her face again, where he could see the light flush of arousal covering her cheekbones. "Um…second. You seem to be doing okay with that one as well, with your hands at least."

"What else am I supposed to do?"

"It's not a matter of what anyone is supposed to do, Sheldon; it's all about what brings you the most pleasure. Some women experience the most pleasure from a simple touch, like what you're doing right now. While others benefit more from oral stimulation, anything from a light flick of the tongue to a suckling motion."

"And which category do you fall into, I wonder?" Sheldon massaged her breast again and Amy felt her breath quicken with each touch, moaning a little as Sheldon rubbed her engorged nipple between his fingers and gave it a slight squeeze.

"Ah, God!" Amy shuddered against his body and felt herself ripple under his magic fingers.

"I do love a good experiment." Sheldon murmured as he started nibbling a path over her collarbone and over her clavicle moving down slightly with every little kiss. Amy held her breath as she felt him moving lower and lower, surely he wasn't?

"Sheldon!" She groaned loudly as he lapped at the droplets of water forming on her breast and felt the tip of his tongue slide over the rough surface of her nipple. She grabbed onto his shoulder to keep herself upright and shuddered again as he started licking the delicate skin on the underside of her breast and then let out a little scream as she felt Sheldon suck her nipple and most of her breast into his mouth.

Sheldon couldn't believe that he'd lived so long without experiencing the emotions that were presently coursing through his body. He loved the taste of Amy's sweet kisses and the softness of the skin on her cheeks, but that was nothing compared to the way he was loving the feel of her breast under his touch or the taste of her nipple in his mouth. His cheeks hollowed out as he suckled strongly and he felt a sudden burning heat against his thigh. Without even thinking about it he dropped his hand down to investigate and found his fingers captured by Amy's hand as she brought them up to her scorching centre, rubbing them against herself as she screamed out his name in bliss. He released her breast with a slight pop, too distracted by the dampness soaking his fingers to continue.

"I think that's enough experimentation for one day." Amy stated as she finally calmed down and stepped away from Sheldon to climb over the rim of the bath on shaky legs. "I don't think I can take anymore right now."

"I bet I could change your mind." Sheldon remarked with a smirk as he raised his damp fingers in the air. "And I think I figured out where third base is all on my own."

"Just take your shower, Sheldon." Amy stated tiredly as she slumped on the closed seat of the toilet, too exhausted to even clean herself off properly.

"Amy, darlin'- come on back in. I'll help you wash up and I'll keep my hands to myself, I swear. Come on, let's just shower and go to bed." Sheldon stepped over the rim of the bathtub and held out a hand to Amy. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"No funny business?"

"No funny business, we'll just take a shower, get into our jammies and then snuggle down, just the same as we've always done." Sheldon promised and Amy finally took his hand and let him pull her to her feet.

"Okay, let's wrap that cast up first. I know they said it was waterproof; but I don't want to take any chances." Amy leant over to grab the plastic wrap and made sure that the cast was completely covered before they went behind the curtain together. True to his word, Sheldon was a perfect gentleman, keeping his hands to himself as they rinsed off together.

Sliding under the covers together a little while later, Sheldon turned on his side and curled himself around Amy's back as he pressed a light kiss to the back of her neck.

"Good night, darlin'. I love you." He'd said the same words to her every night that they had been living together but tonight he really felt that he was saying it for the first time. Amy hugged the arm that he had wrapped around her waist and raised his hand up to press a kiss against the back of his hand.

"Night, Sheldon… and I know." Amy giggled as Sheldon growled softly behind her and nibbled the side of her neck.

"Vixen! You're never gonna let me forget that I said it first are you?"

"Never…"

"You ever gonna be able to say it back? I mean, I know you do, but you never actually say it. Sometimes I really hate George Lucas for making Han Solo say that stupid line." Sheldon muttered in frustration and Amy suddenly flipped over so that she was facing him in bed. She reached up to cup his face in her hands, staring into his crystalline blue eyes.

"Sheldon Lee Cooper, I love you. Just because I don't say it out loud doesn't mean I don't feel it; everything I do for you, I do out of love. It just seems that the word isn't enough to describe how I feel for you…it's more than love, but how can anything be more than that? I don't know if I'm even making sense…am I making sense?"

"Darlin', everything you've ever said to me makes perfect sense. I feel the same way, I love you… I worship you…I adore you…" Every phrase was accompanied by a soft kiss to her waiting lips and Sheldon finally had to draw back to make a little space between them in the bed. "One day, we're gonna be standing in front of a whole group of people that are all going to hear you say it out loud."

"Oh yeah?" Amy leant her head on her hand so that she could look down at Sheldon who had flipped over onto his back and had crossed his arms over his chest, still holding onto Amy's free hand as he traced a path over her third finger of her left hand, almost as if he were playing with an invisible ring.

"Yeah, you're gonna be telling people how much you adore me, pledging to love me until death do us part."

"I don't have to say anything about obeying you at every turn do I?"

"No, just a promise that we will love each other through eternity and support each other when we stand up to collect our Nobel prizes together."

"I'm not hearing a 'will you' in there anywhere, Tex."

"Not just yet, but one day, I promise."

"Okay then, you just let me know when and I'll be the one in the white dress."

"Really, you're gonna make me wait that long?" Sheldon rolled over to his side, raising his eyebrows in question. He hadn't though that Amy would have adhered to the notion of remaining chaste until her wedding night – he might have to rethink things a little if she did.

"No, Sheldon; you don't have to be a virgin in order to wear a white dress when you get married. It's just a representation of purity, not the purity itself."

"Thank God, you were really throwing a spanner into my carefully crafted schedule. I was beginning to panic a little." Sheldon let out a sigh of relief and rolled over onto his back again, picking up where he left off with his light touches to her fingers, pressing their hands together to see how much larger his hand was in comparison to her own.

"Wanna clue me in on some of your plans, Tex? I could use a bedtime story to help me get to sleep."

"Alright, get yourself comfortable and I'll begin." Sheldon waited until Amy had settled down into bed, nestling her head against his chest while he softly stroked her hair. "Our story begins eight years ago in May where a shy but brilliant young physicist met an equally shy but brilliant young neurobiologist. They kept themselves apart for a very long time, pretending to themselves that they were merely friends and had absolutely no interest in each other in anything else. Luckily their group of friends saw through their ruse and invited the young lady to join their social gatherings in an effort to persuade the foolish young man that she was the only woman in the world worthy of his love."

"I like this story, please continue." Amy interrupted and Sheldon gave her hair a playful tug for interrupting his train of thought.

"It took him over a year and the threat of losing her to another man to make the brilliant and yet naïve physicist admit his feelings were more than mere friendship; he interrupted her in the middle of a movie date to ask whether she would consider to be his girlfriend. Things moved slowly for them, he was not used to casual touches and it took him a long time before he could even bring himself to hold her hand; luckily for him she wasn't adverse to flinging herself upon him at every given opportunity, sneaking in a kiss to thank him for buying her a tiara for instance. Within six months though they were playing doctor Star Trek style and although he said to his roommate that he was in Hell; in reality he loved it."

"Aw, Sheldon!" Amy snuggled deeper into his embrace and Sheldon stroked her hair as he continued his little bedtime story.

"He almost lost her a few times along the way, for instance he learnt that inviting a third person along to your anniversary dinner is never a good thing. He tried to make it up by quoting some romantic drivel from the first Spiderman movie and couldn't believe it when she said that she'd stay."

"Hey, I loved those words! I knew it was from a movie but I still felt as though they were written just for me."

"They are now, darlin'." Sheldon turned his head to look directly into Amy's eyes, smoothing her hair back from her forehead as he lost himself in the pools of liquid emerald. "'When I look into your eyes and you're looking back into mine, everything feels not quite normal. I feel stronger and weaker at the same time, I feel excited and, at the same time, terrified. The truth is, I don't know what I feel; except I know what kind of man I want to be.' Your man, darlin' – that's all I ever wanted to be. I didn't know it for certain until you fooled me into taking care of you; it felt so right that I should be the one there for you – Lord knows how I kept myself together when giving you that bath though…"

"Really, even then?"

"I'm a man with a fully functional set of hormones, woman; of course, even then!" Sheldon hugged her to him and then rolled over to his back, bringing Amy with him. "So, moving on…I started thinking about things a little more focused after that, when to move things on a little; making you my emergency contact at the University was the first step, I was beginning to think about you more and more…I even had your picture up as my screensaver just so that I could look at you whenever I wanted."

"I know, Leonard showed me while you were in Texas with Missy. I almost lept on you as soon as you got home, especially after you told me that you missed me." Amy slipped her hand under the buttons of his pyjama shirt, feeling the wiry hair on his chest prickling through his thin undershirt.

"I probably wouldn't have minded all that much, it was always easier when you made the first move." Sheldon admitted softly and Amy grinned up at him

"You did pretty alright on Valentine's Day."

"God! That was nearly a disaster, I didn't know what I was doing; I just lunged in and started kissing you, I didn't stop to think about it."

"You did alright, I was too shocked to realise what was happening at first; I remember thinking that the love of my life is kissing the socks off me and I was just standing there with my arms in the air; I didn't know where to put them. All I could feel were your hands on my hips and you started moving closer and closer."

"There I was thinking how fantastic I felt and I opened my eyes to see you standing there looking completely shell shocked and all you had to say was that it was 'nice."

"Aw, sweetheart; let me make it up to you. Go on, plant a good one on me." Amy puckered her lips and closed her eyes expectantly. She cranked open one eye to see Sheldon hadn't moved. "What, don't you want to?"

"Of course I do! I'm just thinking about how to recreate the moment when we're lying here in bed. You know I like to be thorough about these recreations."

"Stand up then, you can pretend that the glass of water is wine and take it from there. Let me see those acting lessons that you took from Penny pay off." They scrambled out of bed and stood next to each other.

"Okay, you first." Sheldon said and Amy thought over what she had said on the train.

"I think I said something about how I deserved romance. Yes that's it." Amy remembered her exact words and got into position. "Fine, it's true. I deserve romance, and I didn't know how else to make it happen."

"You want romance? I'll give you romance…" Sheldon reached over to take a sip of the water and gave an exaggerated gasp. "Urghh, grape juice that burns! Now we gaze deeply into each other's eyes." Sheldon leant forward to lock eyes with Amy, completely forgetting that he was supposed to make her blink so that he could win. He was completely lost as they stood close together but not touching. "I forgot, what did I say next?" He murmured in a deep voice, not unlike the tone he used after kissing her on the train.

"You said that kissing was romantic…"

"Mmm….Okay, I got it now." Sheldon stepped in a little closer and bent his head down slightly. "Let's see. What's next? Kissing's romantic." He pressed his closed lips to Amy's soft mouth and almost immediately placed his hands on her waist to move closer, Amy murmured something against his lips and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue between her slightly parted lips to coax her tongue into play. Amy's right hand drifted up to caress the short hairs at his nape and her right hand settled on Sheldon's hipbone. His right hand left her waist to travel up to caress her rib cage and then lightly settled just underneath her breast, Amy wiggled a little closer and shifted slightly so that his hand got dislodged until it was cupping her completely and inside her pyjama top. Sheldon kept stepping forward in slight increments until he nudged her again making her topple backwards onto the bed; keeping their mouths fused together he slid one knee between her legs and nudged them slightly apart so that he could settle fully against her. The thinness of their nightclothes were almost no barrier at all and all Sheldon could think about was making her completely his…

Amy felt Sheldon pressing against her and managed to tear her mouth away to breathe. "Um, sweetheart…I think we just frightened away the rest of the diners."

"What?" Sheldon's hips stopped their gentle rocking motions and he leant back to stare down into Amy's face, before remembering that they were supposed to be recreating the scene from the dining cart. "Ha, very funny. Now, don't you have something to say to me, little missy?"

"Well, if you had kissed me like that on the train I don't think you'd have made it to see the conductor."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, and you certainly wouldn't have been spending the night in a separate room either!"

"Good to know. Perhaps you'd like to repeat the performance next year?" Sheldon asked rolling off Amy's warm body and removing himself from temptation.

"Oh no, it's your turn to dazzle me next year. I arranged the last two Valentine's dates, you need to come up with something extra special for next year."

"Oh, I have something in mind never fear." Sheldon winked over and started toying with her ring finger again, sending a little thrill of joy through her entire body. He never did get around to telling her his grand plan for their future but Amy was content to know that he was thinking about it and that was enough for her.

Sheldon had been thinking about nothing else ever since she agreed to move in, it was October now and that only left him four months to get everything in place. He knew that Raj could be counted on as their premium party planner and now all he had to do was contact his Meemaw and tell her he was finally ready to accept the ring that she had offered him when he had first revealed his feelings for Amy, back when Missy was in labour; nearly a year ago. He fell asleep thinking about it, how he would ask and how their friends were likely to react; especially when he told them what he was planning and why everything had to be kept completely secret from Amy.

**AN: So Sheldon's ready to take the ultimate step with Amy; what do you think? Should he plan an elaborate party up on the roof in order to propose? Or should he ask Raj for his help in planning the ultimate party and arrange the wedding for Valentine's Day instead? I'm not going to have the wedding on the roof as that would be too much like Bernadette and Howard…I was thinking about having him arrange for a romantic trip to Texas so that Amy could meet Meemaw and then Sheldon either proposing or arranging for them to be married while they were there.**


	22. Chapter 22

Time passed quickly and before they knew it, Amy and Sheldon were celebrating their first Thanksgiving together at Los Robles. Amy was growing more excited with every passing day as she couldn't wait to start decorating for Christmas. Although Sheldon was most definitely not a fan of the whole Holiday season he loved waking up to see Amy almost brimming over with enthusiasm; a few times she had taken herself off to the 'Fortress' for a few evenings in the past weeks, and wouldn't let Sheldon see what she was working on. Penny and Raj had dropped by with a few mysterious bags and scurried into the spare room with Amy, emerging with empty hands moments later. Sheldon had even tried extracting information from Amy by using his newly acquired skills in the bedroom, but she refused to let even the smallest of hints slip.

It was now a few hours after they'd finished eating the huge Thanksgiving dinner that Amy had prepared and most of the gang were spread out over the floor of 4B lazily watching the Parade on the TV. Penny and Bernadette had just returned from the spare room where Amy had been showing them what she had been working on and Sheldon sighed heavily as Amy slipped back into her seat on the couch and gave him a little smile in greeting. His face twitched slightly as he shifted over on the couch to wrap his arm around her shoulder as she settled back against his side to watch the end of the parade. Penny noticed his movement and the way he was rubbing his cast along the edge of the couch – it had past merely being irritation and now he couldn't wait until he was free.

"Not long now, sweetie." Penny looked up from where she was leaning against Amy's shoulder recovery from a sugar coma, she reached around to tap her knuckles against the cast. "When do you have it removed again?"

"Three days." Amy and Sheldon replied at the same time and Amy then blushed as Sheldon's cerulean gaze met hers and clung for long seconds. They had been sharing the same bed for nearly seven weeks now and although things had heated up between them, Sheldon wanted to wait until he was fully healed before taking that final step. Amy was willing to do anything to make things easier for her boyfriend but the frustration was beginning to take its toll on them both.

"Hey, I just got a text from Howard…he and Bernadette have managed to make a quick getaway from her parents' house; he wants to know if there is any Pumpkin pie left over? Apparently Bernadette's grandma forgot that he was allergic to nuts and only made Pecan." Raj read out the text and looked over at the kitchen counter. Amy had been diligent about tidying everything away before sitting down to enjoy the parade and there wasn't a crumb in sight.

"Tell them to head over, I made plenty and put one aside for an emergency. I was going to ask whether anyone wanted to take it home…" Amy was interrupted by Wil waving his hand in the air and yelling out 'Me! Me!' and shook her head in mock disapproval. "Wil, you've already had three pieces of Pecan, how on earth can you manage a whole Pumpkin one as well? Never mind, I don't want to know." Amy tore her eyes away from Sheldon and nodded her head over to the fridge. "There's a port infused cranberry one in there as well, my father's mother was from England and it's one of her recipes that I thought I'd try out."

"They're on their way…" Raj stated as there was a brief tap on the front door before Howard's head appeared through the narrow opening. "And here they are, faster than the Flash himself."

"Yeah… I sent it from the car, I knew Amy would have something to make up for the horrors of this afternoon." Howard said a little sheepishly as Raj gave up his seat in the armchair to allow Bernadette to sit down. Leonard and Wil were sitting on the floor by Penny's feet and so Raj moved across to sit on the corduroy box, after pushing Sheldon's feet off onto the floor. Amy rose up from the couch and walked into the kitchen.

"It's a good job I made extra then. Pumpkin or cranberry? Ice cream or whipped cream?"

"I have to choose?" Howard walked through the living room running a hand over his chin. "Come on, Amy – let me have a slice of each, please?"

"Cranberry for me please, Amy – Howard can have a little of each if you have enough, he wasn't overly fond of my Dad's attempt at cooking the turkey in hot oil."

"Urgh…" Howard gave a shiver of revulsion and rubbed his stomach lightly. "I thought we said that we were never going to speak of that again."

"Sorry, Howie." Bernadette said contritely as Penny stifled a choke of laughter.

"Hot oil, seriously?"

"I'll fill you in later." Bernadette said as Howard gave another little shudder as he passed the plate containing her slice of Cranberry pie and accepted his own plate which contained a generous slice of each topped with whipped cream. Bernadette let out a groan of appreciation as she tried her first mouthful of the experimental pie. "Oh God, that is to die for! Amy, you need to make sure that you let me have the recipe for this, it's amazing!"

"Thanks Bernie…it's just cranberries that have been poached in ruby port, with a little sugar and spice to give it a kick. I've given it a little topping that my Grandma used to call 'crumble' – that's just flour, butter and sugar mixed together and then sprinkled over the top." Amy held up the serving knife in invitation. "Anyone else daring enough to give it a try?"

"Darlin', you know I'll eat pretty much anything you serve up, I'll take a slice." Sheldon smiled over at his girlfriend, thinking that if the smells that had wafted through the apartment the day before were any indication, they were all in for a treat.

"I'll take a slice." Wil raised a finger and was quickly echoed by Raj, Penny and Leonard. Amy sliced the remainder of the pie and passed the plates around, carrying the last portion over and handing it over to Sheldon. He accepted it with a smile and then dived in for his first taste.

"Mmm, yummy." He stopped chewing and held his fork poised over his plate. "Where's yours?"

"Oh, there wasn't enough to squeeze another slice out …don't worry about me, you go ahead. I'll make another one at Christmas." Amy got an incredible sense of satisfaction as she looked around the room to see her friend's enjoying the food that she had prepared but Sheldon wasn't letting her miss out.

"Open up darlin'." Sheldon raised a forkful of his dessert up to her mouth and held it there until Amy parted her lips to accept the offering.

"Mmm, you were right, Sheldon…definitely yummy."

"Oops, hold still darlin'…." Sheldon noticed a miniscule amount of whipped cream on the side of Amy's mouth and raised his thumb to wipe it away; to his friend's amazement he didn't scrub his hands with a tissue or scream for disinfectant – he simply licked his thumb clean and traded forkfuls of the dessert with Amy until the pie was finished. "What're y'all starin' at?" Sheldon looked over to see dumbfounded expressions all around the room.

"You shared your pie with Amy…" Howard remarked, shaking his head in disbelief. "You never share your food, Sheldon."

"Sure he does…no wait, Sheldon can take fries from Amy but she can't take fries from him. That's how it went wasn't it, Leonard?" Penny raised an eyebrow at her fiancé as she tried to recall how it was when she and Leonard went on a double date with the other couple a few weeks after Sheldon had returned from his trip.

"Penny, that was months ago…and I told you that Amy couldn't have a bite of my burger because it contained avocado; you all know that Amy is allergic! I couldn't even kiss her goodnight as I might have inadvertently sent her into anaphylactic shock." Sheldon leant forward to place his empty plate on the coffee table and then sat back against the cushions with Amy snuggled in under his arm.

"It's true, bestie…I made him brush his teeth three times before I was satisfied that there were no traces of avocado left." Amy winked over at Penny and then ran her fingers over Sheldon's ribs making him let out a hitched, breathy laugh and shying away from her touch.

"Yeah…she said it was bad enough that she'd missed out on over forty eight kisses whilst I was away, she wasn't gonna miss out on anymore!"

"Sheldon!" Amy giggled and buried her head under his arm, knowing that her face was flushed with embarrassment.

"Oooh…" Bernadette cooed from the armchair as Howard leant forward expectantly.

"Hang on a minute, you were gone for forty-five days – that's only six weeks… I thought you said that you only had 'Date Night' once a week?"

"And?" Sheldon glanced over at Howard with one eyebrow raised sardonically, "I never said we only kissed once a week…use your imagination, Howard and I'm sure it will come to you."

"Ok, so you maybe kissed 'hello' and then 'goodnight' for each date night…that's only twelve." Howard wrinkled his nose up as he tried to recall if he'd ever even known the pair of them to be alone together at any other time.

"Sweetie, let me help you out a little…how many times have Leonard and I met you on the stairs when we've got back from getting the Thai food?"

"You guys always get the Thai while Sheldon and Amy makes the drinks….oh!" Raj leant forward, suddenly interested in the conversation and when he finally pieced the clues together his face dissolved in a sweet smile.

"Okay, so we've got six for Date nights…" A slightly uncomfortable cough from Sheldon had Howard looking up from where he was tapping the figures into the calculator on his phone, one look at the twitch around his friend's eye had him revising his estimate. "Okay…so twelve for date night, add in another six for Thai nights…I don't even need a calculator to tell me that a whole lot more smacking lips had to be going on when the rest of us weren't around. Spill!"

"Really, Howard? Must we go into detail? Can you not just be satisfied that we were slightly more intimate than we led you to believe?" Sheldon sighed in exasperation, inwardly cursing himself for the slip of the tongue that led him down this slippery slope.

"YES!" The rest of the group, including Wil, shouted out together and Amy came to Sheldon's rescue and with a pat to his knee took over the telling.

"Date nights, Thai nights, after he walked me back to my lab at lunchtime…" Amy ticked off the potential kisses one by one and looked over at Howard who was frantically keying the information into his phone.

"That still only makes 6 date nights, 6 Thai nights and allowing for the fact that you shared lunch three times a week, 18 lunchtime smooches."

"Ah…but you are all assuming that we only shared **one** kiss per occasion…a couple's got to have some secrets." Amy winked again and nudged Sheldon's side.

"Yup, th-th-that's all folks!" He mimicked in his best Porky Pig voice and smirked a little as there were groans of disappointment around the room. Wil rose to his feet and reached over to grab his leather jacket from the pile of coats on the platform.

"Well, after that disappointing revelation I'm gonna make a move. Amy, lovely meal as always." Wil leant over to brush a kiss over Amy's cheek and then paused on his way over to the door. "Guys – see you Sunday for paintball?"

"Yeah, see you then, Wil." Leonard confirmed with a nod and Wil left soon after. Bernadette nudged Howard's arm and prised the phone out of his hand.

"Leave it, Howie. You're never gonna work it out and they're never gonna spill everything. Come on, rocketman…let's go home and I'll let you stay up and watch the Parade with me again in bed. Raj – do you want a ride home with us?

"I was going to walk home later to work some of this food off, but I think I might catch a ride with you instead." Raj stood up and nudged the footstool back under Sheldon's feet. He walked over to gather his coat and passed Bernadette her jacket and purse from where they had also been thrown across Sheldon and Amy's desk.

"Thanks for letting us crash your Thanksgiving." Bernadette bent down to kiss Amy's cheek and patted Sheldon briefly on the shoulder, before walking over to hug Penny and Leonard goodbye.

"You know that you are always welcome, we'll get together soon and talk about Christmas." Amy extracted herself from Sheldon and walked over to whisper something in Bernadette's ear which made the tiny blonde giggle excitedly.

"Sounds great, I can't wait! Bye!"

"Goodnight Bernadette, Wolowitz, Raj." Sheldon gave them all a slight wave and Leonard smiled in farewell as he walked over to reclaim his seat in the armchair, flopping his legs over the side and letting out a tired sigh.

"Man, that feels good! As comfortable as Penny's apartment is, there just isn't enough room for a decent sized armchair…I've missed this."

"How can you miss it, Leonard? You're over here every day!" Sheldon remarked with a frown, and Amy shared a smile with Penny as it sounded just like old times. "When Penny is at work and you are supposedly 'working' from home you spend more time over here in **my **fortress of solitude when you have a perfectly adequate desk over in your own apartment."

"Yeah, but the food's better over here…" Leonard grinned at Amy and Sheldon smiled faintly in return.

"Can't argue with you there….but Leonard, our agreement was that you would only work out of here when Penny was playing her 'sorry excuse for music' too loudly for you to concentrate…it was not an invitation for you to move back into your old room!"

"I work better over here...I guess I just got used to it over the last ten years, it feels weird working over the hallway when I'm used to listening to you talk to yourself while you work. I'm sorry, Sheldon, I'll try to do better."

"No, it's okay…if you think that you will do a better job on your part of the book by working over here, then by all means continue. I haven't even started my own work properly, I know that Howard's mother offered to transcribe my manuscript for me; but I just couldn't work that way. I'm still officially on sick leave for another two weeks and then my sabbatical starts after that. So, please, Leonard – feel free to use the fortress or batcave whenever you get the urge."

"Is that okay with you, Amy? I don't want to interfere with your set up in any way…" Leonard swung his legs off the arm of the chair and dangled his hands loosely on his knees.

"I'm still very much in the planning stages of my own work as well, Leonard. I've really only been collating all of my papers together over the last couple of weeks, so it's absolutely fine with me as well. I would ask that you don't touch anything in the wooden chest next to the television cabinet though, it contains some rather sensitive materials and I wouldn't want them to be damaged." Amy caught Penny's eye as she spoke the last sentence and Penny widened her eyes at Leonard and gave a subtle jerk of her head toward Sheldon. Leonard nodded slightly in return, having been filled in on the contents of the mysterious chest by Penny, even though Amy had made her swear an oath of silence.

"Thanks guys, it really means a lot to me. I won't bring a lot of my stuff over, just my laptop and whatever books I need on a day to day basis; I'll try to keep out of your way as much as possible – you won't even know I'm here!"

"Yeah, until lunch time that is!" Sheldon remarked drolly and Leonard chuckled as he rubbed his aching stomach.

"Don't make me laugh, I think my stomach's about to explode!"

"Come on, sweetie. Let me take you home and you can flop out on the couch until it's time for bed." Penny walked over to Leonard and held out her hand to help him to his feet. He wrapped his arm around her waist and they said their goodnights, thanking Amy again for the delicious meal. After the other couple had left, Sheldon snuggled back down with Amy at his side and let out a huge sigh.

"Tired, my sweet baboon?"

"Sure am…what do you say to taking an early night ourselves?"

"Race you!" Amy lept up from the couch and sprinted toward the bedroom, a surprisingly agile Sheldon fast on her heels. "I thought you were tired?"

"Got my second wind…" Sheldon pressed Amy against their closed bedroom door and bent his head to nibble at her soft lips. "Mmm…that cranberry pie tastes even better on you."

"Uh-huh…" Amy agreed, smiling against his lips as she felt Sheldon reach behind her to open the door and gently nudge her inside, keeping his lips firmly attached to hers as he walked her slowly into the darkened room.


	23. Chapter 23

Sheldon held tightly to Amy's hand as the buzz of the saw grew louder in the small room of the orthopaedic clinic.

"Now Sheldon, you may experience a slight tingling sensation along your arm as we start cutting into the plaster, that's perfectly natural and I promise it won't hurt a bit." The technician gave Sheldon a reassuring smile and Sheldon jerked his head in response.

"Don't worry, Tex. I'm right here and I won't let go – booboo's and ouchies, remember?"

"You promise?" Sheldon murmured weakly turning his head away as the saw made the first sweeping pass along his right arm. Amy squeezed his hand slightly in response.

"Always, Sheldon. Just keep looking at me, that's it." Sheldon looked directly into Amy's emerald eyes and focused on searching out the little hints of gold that flecked around her iris; so intent was his gaze that the technician had to clear her throat a couple of times to gain his attention.

"Sheldon?"

"Sorry." Sheldon flushed a little as he redirected his attention to the technician. "You were saying?"

"Doctor Matthews wants you to come back in a week for a follow up set of x-rays and you are to wear the sling as a support whenever you feel that you need it. Sheldon, you've had quite a serious break and so you need to ease yourself back into full mobility – take it slowly and if you have any problems, just give us a call at the clinic and we'll arrange an earlier appointment."

"Thank you." Sheldon looked at his bare arm, tracing one lean forefinger over the still red looking line where they had operated on him.

"How does it feel?" Amy murmured a little later as they were sitting in her car in the hospital parking garage. She turned slightly in her seat to see Sheldon flexing his arm and watching the muscles contract under the pale skin.

"Surprisingly normal, I thought that I'd feel a little discomfort but it feels okay." Sheldon replied as he waggled his fingers in the air and watched his tendons react. "There is one thing that I'm desperate to do as soon as we get home…"

"Yeah? Tell me more…" Amy whispered near his ear, excitement zinging through her veins at the thought of what he might have in store for them.

"Shower." Sheldon stated with a look of rapture on his face. "I'd like nothing more than to have a proper shower; when I think of the dead skin cells that have been trapped inside that cast for the last eight weeks…urgh!" Amy looked over at her boyfriend in aghast and then slumped back into the driver's seat, reaching for the keys to start the engine.

"Hmph." Was all she muttered in response as she checked the mirrors and then carefully reversed out of the parking space and headed toward the exit.

"That's all you've got to say… 'hmph'?" Sheldon twisted in his seat to take a look at Amy's fixed expression, "I thought you'd somehow be a little more excited somehow."

"Huh?" Amy rolled the window down to insert the correct amount of coins in the payment machine and as she waited for the barrier to rise up, twisted slightly around to glance over at Sheldon.

"You know…you…" Sheldon pointed at Amy, then at himself, "Me…shower…" He waggled his eyebrows, "naked, Dear Lord Woman! Do I really need to spell it out for you?" He found himself flung back in his seat as Amy accelerated out of the parking garage with a squeal of burning rubber.

"Hoo!" Amy hooted and floored it all the way back to Los Robles. They clasped hands as soon as they left the car and hotfooted it all the way up to the fourth floor, by the time they reached the door to 4A they were both breathing erratically; probably due to the toe curling kiss that Sheldon had laid on Amy as soon as they reached the curve of the staircase leading up to their apartment.

"Keys…" Amy muttered against Sheldon's mouth as he started kissing her again, right up against their front door.

"Pocket…" Sheldon muttered in response and then let out a groan. "Jacket, not pants!"

"Sorry." Amy apologised with a tiny smirk as she very slowly extracted her hand from the now very tight pocket at the front of his khaki pants, her fingertips grazing him slightly on her way.

"Vixen!" Sheldon groaned and flexed his hips lightly against hers as Amy delved into his jacket pocket and retrieved their house keys. She fumbled around for a second trying to locate the keyhole behind her back and Sheldon pressed his full lean length against her as he reached around her to insert the key into the door and turn the handle. Amy almost stumbled inside as the door opened behind her back and it was only Sheldon's lightning fast reflexes that kept her upright.

"Hey, you're back!" Leonard beamed happily from just inside the apartment, he had heard the scraping of the keys in the lock and had just reached out to open the door when Sheldon turned the handle. "How did everything go?"

"Um…fine." Sheldon blinked rapidly to try and regain some sense of decorum, his raging hormones were screaming at him to finish what he started but that was almost impossible now that Leonard was talking. He took off his windbreaker and casually draped it over his arm in an attempt to hide his body's reaction until it calmed down.

"Oh man, wicked scarring, Sheldon!" Leonard reached out to grab Sheldon's arm, turning it back and forth to admire the narrow line bisecting the length of his forearm.

"Leonard, please. Sheldon has been told to be very gentle with his arm over the next couple of weeks, he doesn't need you sending him back to be re plastered quite so soon." Amy gently removed Leonard's hand from Sheldon's arm and placed herself in between the two friends. Sheldon immediately wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her closer to his side, nuzzling into her soft hair. She twined her fingers with his where Sheldon's hand rested against her stomach and they both hummed slightly under their breath.

"Um…I think…yeah, I'd better be off now, Penny's due home any minute and I think we're going out to eat tonight…yeah, definitely eating out tonight…bye!" Leonard's cheeks flushed at the sight of his two friends snuggling up together against the door, he thought quickly on his feet as his eyes inadvertently strayed to the way Sheldon was keeping his jacket clasped in front of him and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Okay, see you tomorrow, Leonard." Sheldon accepted the explanation without query and Leonard nearly ran over to check whether his friend had been taken over by an alien parasite. Since when had Sheldon voluntarily missed Friday night vintage games? Leonard glanced over his shoulder quickly just before he left and saw that Amy and Sheldon were heading down the hall…wait, were they actually heading into the bathroom together? Was that Sheldon actually growling at her? He ran out of the apartment and across the hall, pulling out his phone as he slumped against the door of the apartment he now shared with Penny.

**Games night off…DO NOT come over to Sheldon's tonight…L**

**I wanted to play Mario Kart…what's got into Sheldon tonight? H**

**I think it's more of a case of what's getting into Amy…and that would be Sheldon! L**

**No way! Coming over to your place for more deets… R**

**NO! Going to dinner with Penny…cannot be across the hall from the love fest…think it's going to be very noisy…Sheldon was growling earlier…L**

**Cheesecake Factory…8:00…bring all the details…B**

**Growling? Are you sure it wasn't his arm hurting him?...P**

**Pretty sure…heading over to the comic book store to try and forget what I heard, see you at dinner…L**

Leonard grabbed his jacket, slipping his wallet into his pocket and then making his way out of the apartment – he paused outside of 4A but what he heard from inside had him picking up his pace until he was nearly running down the stairs, trying to get away from what was clearly going on behind those locked doors…


	24. Chapter 24

Sheldon was barely aware of Leonard leaving the apartment, all of his attention was focused on the dazzling creature at his side. It had only taken one glance in a small coffee shop and his carefully structured world began to crumble down around him. Without even knowing he started to let down his defences until he barely knew where he left off and she began. And now she was about to become his…in every sense of the word.

"Amy, I…" He fumbled for the right words, wanting her to know just how much this moment meant to him and Amy stopped him with a gentle finger against his lips.

"Ssh, Sheldon. Let's just get you properly washed and see where we go from there; nothing has to happen that you're not ready for." Amy helped Sheldon undress and then started removing her own clothes; being naked in front of each other wasn't anything new and was another one of the small steps they had taken together on their long road to intimacy. It wasn't until they were standing under the shower head together that Sheldon placed a finger under her chin to raise her eyes up to meet his.

"You misunderstand, I just wanted you to know that I love you and that I'm so happy that we waited for the right moment. I have every intention of fulfilling one of your most fervent wishes…You'd better hold onto somethin' darlin'…"

"Why?"

Sheldon winked as he bent his head to brush a string of kisses along her collarbone. "I'm gonna kiss you where you've never been kissed before…and I don't mean Salt Lake City!"

"Hoo!" Amy cooed as her cheeks flushed bright red. There was only one place that Sheldon had avoided until now and as he hitched her thigh up around his waist his intent was clear. She felt herself being lowered onto the ledge on the bathtub and Sheldon's warm breath flowing over her naval, moving lower and lower until… "Sheldon!" Amy started panting as she felt his fingers graze over the neatly trimmed curls hiding her femininity, parting her folds and dipping inside.

"Mmm…" Sheldon murmured in appreciation as he felt her slickness coating his finger. "Lovely, just a little more…" He edged his forefinger in a little deeper and followed with a second, curling them up slightly as he began thrusting gently. Amy emitted a high pitched cry as his agile fingers just caught the edge of her hidden bundle of nerves, sending a shock wave of pleasure throughout her body. Her hand slipped between them and nudged Sheldon's hand slightly to the left and he batted her hand away. "I've got this, darlin'…you just sit back and let me do all the work." Sheldon left his left hand in place, as his right carefully hitched her thigh slightly higher on his waist, bringing her in closer contact and allowing his fingers to slip even deeper inside her. "Oh yeah, that's it…just a little more…come on, darlin'." Sheldon started crooning as his fingers started a little twisting motion deep inside her and a third finger was added, stretching her walls slightly in preparation. Amy rocked her hips forward to meet his every thrust and Sheldon felt her dampness flooding over his fingers and running down his wrist. He bit gently into her neck as he quickened his movements and when she felt that exquisite sting of pleasure/pain, Amy let out a cry and lost herself in sensation.

Sheldon withdrew his fingers slowly, caressing her gently as he slipped them out of her body; chuckling as he felt her inner walls trying to clench around him to keep him inside. "Just wait a minute, darlin' and I'll let you go again…" Sheldon murmured, his voice gravelly with unspent desire. Amy's eyes were clouded with passion as she opened them slowly to see Sheldon kneeling on the bottom of the bath and hitching her legs up over his shoulders. He gave her a grin as he bent his head. "Now, darlin'…I'm no expert so you're gonna have to let me know if I'm doing this right…"

Amy's eyes flew open as she felt that first cautious lap of his tongue against her folds. "Umm…" Sheldon's eyes flicked up to meet hers as he paused, waiting for her to let him know whether to continue or not. She nodded slowly and he gave her his utmost attention. First he used just the tip of his tongue in order to get used to her taste, it was a subtle blend of musk and spice and he had to admit that it was something that he could get used to. He hitched one of her legs higher on his shoulder so that he could see what he was doing. Her folds were swollen slightly, glistening with dampness and flushed bright red.

"Mmm…" Sheldon hummed against her as he spotted the swollen bud of her clitoris peeking out from its hidden depths. Amy squirmed against his head, as the vibrations of his voice sent tingles all the way down her spine. Sheldon clamped a hand down on her thigh holding her in place as he gently sucked her small bud into his mouth and moved his tongue gently around.

"Aahh…!" Amy hissed between her teeth and felt Sheldon smile against her thighs as he nuzzled his head against her thighs, allowing her dampness to coat his mouth and cheeks. She couldn't believe that Sheldon was actually willingly allowing himself to do all of this, she had thought that the mere idea of her bodily fluids touching his exposed skin would have been enough to send him screaming in the other direction…"Oh God!" Amy screamed out as she felt Sheldon's tongue stabbing deep into her folds and lapping up her juices, as if he were a man dying of thirst. Amy's hands floundered for something to hold onto and felt into Sheldon's short hair as she pressed his head deeper into the valley of her thighs. "YES! Aah…deeper…just a little faster…Ohh!" Sheldon obeyed her desperate pleading, plunging his tongue deeper and faster, and feeling his hips follow in unconscious rhythm. He felt her taste flooding his mouth as she plunged over the edge and lapped up everything her body offered him before slowly withdrawing his tongue, giving her playful licks and enjoying the way her thighs twitched slightly with the aftershocks.

"Sex God, am I right?" He murmured as he pressed a lush kiss to her swollen mouth, Amy could taste herself on his lips and although she grimaced slightly at the thought, it wasn't wholly unpleasant.

"Imagine what we could do with a little more practise." She replied drawing his bottom lip between her teeth and sucking on it a little, before releasing it with a little pop.

"Mmm…and to think that was just a preview…" Sheldon hissed a little as he leant a little too hard on his right arm, trying to get to his feet.

"Slow down a little, sweetheart. It's not a race, we'll get there eventually." Amy got up from the floor of the bath, her knees a little shaky and helped Sheldon steady himself.

"Eventually! Woman, I may just die before then…" Sheldon glanced down at his bobbing erection and reached around Amy to flick the switch over to cold. "You may want to stand back."

"Sheldon, there's no need for that." Amy said as she leant over to turn off the shower completely, letting her hand float across his stomach on the way back. He twitched uncontrollably and Amy grinned at his reaction. "Booboo and ouchie, remember?"

"I hardly think this qualifies…" Sheldon started to say, but when he felt Amy's hand slip down to take him firmly in her grip he relented. "Well, if you insist….Oh, yeah…just like that…Mmm…squeeze just a little tighter…" Sheldon closed his eyes and wrapped his hand around Amy's guiding her in the movement that he liked, drawing her hand down his whole length and pulling lightly on the tip.

"Okay, I got this…you just relax and let me do the hard work." Amy pushed his hand away and repeated his words from earlier. Sheldon grinned against her neck as his head rolled backwards at her exquisite touch. His hand flexed on her hip and started urging her to go faster with as he fingers dug in.

"Won't last long…" He hissed out as she started pumping a little faster and then gave him a few slow tugs accompanied by a swipe of her thumb along his tip, using his own lubrication to coat his firm length.

"Let it go." Amy breathed into his neck and with one final thrust of his hips, he exploded with a harsh grunt, spurting his seed over her hand and the side of the bath with the force of his passion. Amy continued to milk every last drop out of him until his hips finally slowed their movements and his head slumped into the crook of her neck. "Come on, Tex. Let's get you cleaned up and then changed into your jammies."

"Uh-huh." Sheldon nodded into her neck, gently nuzzling and pressing soft kisses into the curve of her shoulder. He kept his arms wrapped around her, not wanting to lose the connection and Amy chuckled softly as she turned the shower on again. "What's so funny?" He murmured sleepily and Amy gently caressed his cheek as she smiled up at him.

"You're a snuggler."

"Huh?"

"Penny said that some men want to roll over straight after sex and fall asleep. Apparently that's what Leonard does, so does Howard. You're a snuggler, wanting to maintain closeness, I guess I was right when I called you my cuddle bunny."

"Is that bad? Do you want me to stop?"

"No, I love it. I just assumed that you'd want to clean up straight away to get rid of the evidence, so to speak."

"But why? I mean, I don't rinse my mouth out after we've kissed – why would this be any different? I love you and I love the way you taste on my tongue, why on earth would I want to rid myself of that?"

"Well, if we go the whole way in our bed; it might get a little sweaty and sticky."

"When, not if…and we can always change the sheets and have another round in the shower afterwards."

"Another round? I think you may be disappointed there, Sheldon; another thing Penny told me was that most men need a period of recovery after achieving orgasm…sometimes they can't perform again in the same night." Amy had her back to Sheldon as she washed her hair and was startled when she felt him tap her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder to see him pointing at where his erection was prodding against her buttocks. "Oh boy."

"Yes, well…I am a Homo Novus after all Amy…and a sex god as well, what did you expect?"

"We're gonna need a lot of condoms…" Amy replied as she remembered exactly how much mess Sheldon had made earlier, and didn't relish the thought of having that all over the bed.

"I thought you were on contraception?"

"Wearing a condom would prevent a lot of mess on the sheets and give us that extra layer of protection."

"Hmm…Leonard said that it feels different without one, I would need to experiment to verify his statement of course."

"Alright, I'll make a deal with you. You agree to wear a condom for the first few weeks and we'll see if you produce as much…" Amy floundered for the words, not wanting to be too graphic…"stuff…" She finally stated, "if it decreases then I'll agree to try it without one and we'll see if it makes a difference."

"Ah…you think that my unusual 'spillage' was the result of years of suppression?" Sheldon shook his head slightly. "Unfortunately, I have to disagree…while I was cleaning up, I didn't really notice it was any greater than my usual experience."

"Not selling the idea, Sheldon…Hey! I didn't think you were into self-gratification? You sure didn't like the idea when you found out about Gerard!" Amy poked him lightly in the stomach and Sheldon held up his hand to fend her off.

"Well…I may not have been completely honest with you there…Growing up, it was only about twice a year, then I didn't do it at all until…."

"Until?"

"What do you think?" Sheldon raised an eyebrow and Amy squealed happily, reaching over to pepper his face with kisses. "Yeah, yeah, yeah…enough of that you vixen. Go on, get out of here and let me get rid of this."

"I can help you with that."

"I don't think so, otherwise we'll never get out of here tonight. Go on, shoo!" Sheldon spanked Amy lightly on the buttocks and shoved her out of the shower. He didn't hear any movement, and so poked his head out of the curtain. "I can't do it with you there!"

"Spoilsport." Amy wrinkled her nose up at him and started drying off with the bath sheet, she glanced up to see Sheldon tracking her movement with his heated gaze. "What are you waiting for?"

"Just enjoying the view." Sheldon winked and Amy dropped the towel, hitching her hand on her hip.

"Front row seat, cuddles." Amy gasped as Sheldon suddenly threw back the curtain and lept over the side of the bath, swooping her over his shoulder so that her legs dangled over his chest.

"I changed my mind, you can definitely help me out." He said with a growl as he carried her out of the bathroom and into their room.

"Hoo…" Amy hooted as she bounced lightly on the bed, where Sheldon had set down. Her eyes widened as he stalked slowly toward her and then lowered his body until they were pressed full length against each other.

"Now." Was all Sheldon said and Amy fell back against the pillows, her legs parting slightly to let him rest between them.

"Now." She nodded in agreement and Sheldon flicked off the light, plunging the room into darkness.


	25. Chapter 25

Sheldon twitched slightly as his body slowly came out of a coma like sleep; he prised open eyelids that felt heavy and leaden, blinking rapidly as he tried to work out what had woken him so abruptly. Sheldon turned his head, expecting to see his alarm clock, but instead saw to his surprise, that he was facing the window rather than the door.

The pounding on the front door started up again, and he thought that must had been what roused him from sleep in the first place. Sheldon threw back the covers with his left hand and only then realised that he was completely naked. He fell back against the mattress and glanced over to his side where Amy was wrinkling up her nose, protesting against the disturbance. Sheldon gave a satisfied little smile as he threw back the covers once again and ran a finger along the curve of Amy's side.

"Amy…we've got company."

"Hmph…" Amy gave a muffled little snort and buried her head into the pillow. Sheldon smiled again and ran his hand further along her side until he was almost cupping her breast. Amy arched into his hand, and he curled against her back nuzzling into the side of her neck.

"We need to get up." He murmured, giving her neck a little nibble and then groaned as Amy nestled her curvy backside further against his groin.

"I think someone already is…" She replied sleepily, reaching around to pull his hand further up her chest, forcing her nipple to rub against the palm of his hand.

"We can't…" Sheldon hissed as Amy parted her legs slightly and rocked back a little more. "Wasn't twice during the night enough for you? Aahh…oh yeah…" Sheldon started to protest and then found his words cut off as Amy's left leg shifted higher on the bed and as she rocked backwards he slipped easily inside her for the third time. They fell into a slow, easy rhythm, with Sheldon bringing both hands around Amy's chest to massage her breasts in perfect timing with his thrusts. _"Sheldon? I thought you were going to give us a run through on how to take down the geology department once and for all? Are you coming, buddy?" Leonard grew fed up of pounding on the door and finally let himself in the apartment.

"Nearly, Leonard." Amy caught her breath and shouted out from the bedroom.

"You need a hand with anything?" Leonard assumed that Sheldon was having trouble in the shower again and was merely running a little behind.

"NO!" Sheldon yelled out between thrusts and Amy gave a little giggle which quickly turned into a series of high pitched moans.

"There…oh…yes, yes, just like that!"

"Come on, just a little more…nearly there…."

Leonard froze in the middle of pouring himself a glass of juice, as the moans grew increasingly louder and then there was the sound of something clattering on the floor… "Oh crap! Why am I always the one walking in on these things?" Leonard set the glass carefully on the counter and started edging his way to the door.

"GOD…YES! YES! YES!" Sheldon's hoarse shouts from the bedroom and the distinct sound of the headboard banging against the wall had Leonard scuttling back out of the apartment with a crimson face. He ran over to 4B and threw himself inside, slamming the door behind him trying to escape the noise echoing in his ears.

"Sweetie, what's the matter? I thought you were all meeting over at Sheldon's to discuss strategy?" Penny came out of the bedroom, pulling on a rumbled robe as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Change of plans…" Leonard muttered, tapping out a series of messages on his phone.

"Is it Sheldon? Is his arm okay?"

"Oh yeah…you could say that."

"Well, what happened?" Penny walked over to flick on the coffee pot, she knew that it would be impossible to get back to sleep now.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Leonard muttered, the tips of his ears turning pink with embarrassment.

"Aw, sweetie…did you walk in on Sheldon changing again? I told you that size is not always relevant." Penny pecked Leonard on the cheek and ruffled his hair. Leonard huffed and tried to avoid her gaze. "Come on, Leonard, I can always tell when something's bothering you. Talk to me…please."

"I…uh…SheldonwasreallyloudandIthinktheywerehavingsex." He blurted out in one breath and then scrambled for his inhaler, taking a desperate puff into his lungs.

"Oh my God! You heard them?"

"Yeah…" Leonard gave a little shiver and Penny started jumping up and down in excitement. "Penny, it wasn't funny…I swear he was louder than anything I've ever heard!"

"How loud?" Penny asked with a smirk, Leonard didn't reply; he just grabbed her hand and led her outside so she could hear for herself. Standing in the hallway between the two apartments, she found herself clapping a hand over her mouth as the enthusiastic sounds of their frantic coupling could be clearly heard drifting through the door.

"Now imagine that from inside…the headboard was banging…Sheldon was shouting…get the picture?" Leonard dragged Penny back inside their apartment and they fell onto the aqua couch.

"I never would have imagined Sheldon as being loud in the sack…I always thought that he'd be quietly repressed somehow…Amy, on the other hand; well, I kinda put her down for the screaming."

"TMI, Penny." Leonard said with a little grimace, "I never ask what you girls do on your girlie nights…but I never thought you went in for experimentation."

"Leonard!" Penny slapped at his arm, "No! It's just that whenever Amy had a night terror, she would always give out these high pitched screams…so I thought that was what she'd be like with Sheldon as well."

"Oh, okay. Anyway I said I'd meet the guys over at Raj's for the strategy meeting, do you want to come along?"

"No…I'm going to hang out around here so that I can catch Amy whenever things cool off a little over there…she might have a few questions and want a chat." Penny thought about how she had felt after her first time, and knew already from the sounds emanating from across the hall that Amy had most likely skipped the terror part and zoomed straight into the bliss zone.

"Alright, I'll be back around one thirty. See you."

"Yeah, see you." Penny raised her face to accept Leonard's sweet kiss and then settled back into the couch, waiting for things to quieten down.

_Across the hall, Sheldon had flopped onto his back and was laying with his arm over his eyes as he tried to regulate his rapid heartbeat and catch his breath. Amy was flopped on her stomach trying to do exactly the same thing.

"One word….wow!" She muttered into the pillow, turning her head slightly to look over at Sheldon's face.

"Yeah…" He removed his arm and gazed back into her eyes. He winced slightly as his right arm protested a little from all of the activity, and Amy rolled over to gently run her fingers along his forearm.

"I don't think that your surgeon had quite this activity in mind when he said take it easy."

"You may be right, I have to admit it is a little sore now." Sheldon admitted with a wry grin, "Shower?"

"Just shower?" Amy asked, screwing her nose up in question; she was feeling a little sore herself – only it wasn't her arm that was feeling the effects of their amorous night of activities.

"Just shower, I promise." Sheldon swore and when Amy nodded he threw back the covers to reveal their naked state. "I swear, I will never get used to that sight." He took a moment to scan her body from head to toe, lingering on his new found favourite attributes.

"Eyes up, Cooper." Amy tapped his chest to get his attention and Sheldon's cheeks flushed as he realised that he had been staring at her breasts for far too long.

"Sorry." He apologised and shrugged his shoulders. "I always knew you were beautiful, but now…like this, you are simply exquisite."

"Aw…that's lovely…but no…shower only, Doctor Cooper."

"I wasn't trying to…" Sheldon squirmed on the bed, uncomfortable with Amy thinking he was only interested in sex. He noticed her grin, and felt his face relax into a warm smile. "Oh, funny…but you didn't say 'bazinga'."

"Come on, Sheldon. Let's go and have a shower, then we can change the bed sheets and just enjoy the day together."

"Okay." Sheldon accepted Amy's hand and together they walked down the hall to the bathroom. "By the way, what did it feel like for you without me wearing a condom? Because for me, amazing."

"Actually…yeah, I have to agree it was better for me the third time; it felt a little easier accepting you….you have to know that you are a little on the large size."

"Umm, well I didn't want to brag or anything – but having inadvertently seen my friends in various state of undress over the years, yeah…I kinda thought so."

"So, are we in agreement that we can do away with the whole condom issue? There wasn't as much mess on the sheets as I was expecting and it felt good not having to stop midway to fiddle with the thing." Sheldon stepped over the rim of the bathtub, holding onto Amy's hand to assist her in.

"Okay, proposal accepted." Amy nodded and Sheldon grinned in return, hugging his girlfriend tightly as he pulled her under the spray.

A few hours later the guys let themselves into 4A; having knocked loudly on the door beforehand, after receiving the news from Leonard.

"Hey, we're back."

"And the news is?" Sheldon looked over from where he and Amy were snuggled up on the couch, Sheldon was back in his usual spot with his feet resting on the storage box and Amy was resting against his side as they watched a DVD together.

"We lost…again." Howard said morosely as he slumped into the armchair, dangling his goggles from one hand. "I blame you entirely, Sheldon."

"Me, what did I do? I wasn't even there!" Sheldon paused their movie and looked over at Howard with raised eyebrows. Leonard was frantically waving his arms in the air and mouthing 'no' where Sheldon couldn't see.

"Um…no real reason, just could have done with Major Cooper on our side today, that's all." Howard muttered, grumbling under his breath at Leonard spoiling all of his fun.

"Thank you, Howard…it may be some time before I am fully able to participate in our usual activities. I'm sure Wil is stepping into my shoes quite nicely though." Sheldon gave Wil a slight smile, as the younger man crossed over to the living room from where he had been fetching a bottle of water out of the fridge.

"I do my best, Sheldon. Those rock guys are mean, though!"

"Gravel monkeys." Sheldon snorted in haughty derision and Amy chuckled in response.

"That's not what you were calling them a few months ago…I seem to remember you calling in horror after you found yourself spending the night with a certain geology text book."

"Amy! I wasn't in full charge of my faculties that night, and I thought we had agreed never to mention it again?" Sheldon drew back slightly to look down at Amy with a frown on his face, she reached up to stroke a finger down his nose.

"Aw, but you looked so cute in your skivvies…all cuddled up with the book cradled against your chest."

"Sheldon Cooper does not do cute!" Sheldon stated firmly, "Unless it's a cute little koala with their flat little noses all furry and cuddly."

"Hey! What about me?" Amy protested and Sheldon's face lost its koala look and took on its Amy look instead. He rubbed his nose against hers playfully.

"Cute wasn't exactly the word I was going for with you, darlin'."

"Ooohhhh!" A coo from the doorway announced Penny and Bernadette's arrival, they had let themselves in when Sheldon had first mentioned koala's and stayed quiet in order to observe the pair of them for a little while.

"Oh, hey guys!" Amy turned her attention away from Sheldon to greet her two best girlfriends. "Howard was just telling us that the boys lost to geology again this week."

"Aw, Howie!" Bernadette ran over to wrap her arms around her husband in comfort, while Penny just smirked over at Leonard; knowing what had him so distracted that morning.

"I've got just the thing to cheer everyone up…how does a pot roast with all the trimmings sound?" Amy looked around the room waiting for a reaction.

"Mmm…yummy." Sheldon sighed and Amy patted his hand.

"Anyone else?" She looked around and there were nods all around, she rose from the couch and stifled a little wince at the slight ache between her legs and Sheldon caught her hand to pull her down a little so that he could murmur in her ear. Amy shook her head in response to his query and pressed a light kiss to his cheek in gratitude, before making her way over to the kitchen. Penny caught Bernadette's eye and jerked her head in Amy's direction. Bernadette nodded and cleared her throat a little.

"Howie, why don't you take the guys into the office and show them that neat trick on Halo for getting those extra weapons?"

"Huh?" Howard looked over at his wife in surprise and nearly fell off the chair when she jabbed him sharply in the ribs and glared at him through her glasses. "Oh, yeah…it's really cool. I was talking to a few of my online buddies and they gave me this entry code into a hidden store. Come on, I'll show you."

"Alright then." Sheldon rose from the couch, rubbing a little at his aching arm. "Amy, we'll be in the batcave for a little while."

"Okay, Sheldon." Amy crossed over from the kitchen and pressed a couple of mild painkillers and a glass of juice in his hand. "Take these, I can see you wincing and I know that it hurts. Just take them, please."

"I wasn't going to argue, Amy. I know that you're right." Sheldon swallowed the pills with the juice before handing the empty glass back to Amy and dropping a quick kiss to her hair. Penny waited until the guys were all out of sight before catching hold of Amy's arm and forcing her to sit on a stool at the counter.

"Okay, Fowler. Spill!"


	26. Chapter 26

"Penny! That's a little personal, don't you think?" Bernadette moved to Amy's side in full on protective mode.

"I…err…I…" Amy didn't know where to look, her cheek flushed with embarrassment and Penny let out a crow of delight.

"Don't try and hide it, Ames…Leonard and I heard you two this morning."

"Oh…dear Lord…" Amy hid her face in the shoulder of her cardigan and groaned, she remembered Leonard calling out to them earlier and what she had shouted back. Penny saw her squirm on the stool and moved in for the kill.

"I never thought I'd ever ask this…but – how was he?" Amy looked up in surprise and Penny saw the faint shimmer of tears behind Amy's eyes and moved closer to rub her hand along Amy's back. "Oh, sweetie…I didn't mean to make you cry. Was it that bad? I'm so sorry…"

"Nice one, Penny!" Bernadette hissed as she cuddled Amy closer to her side and cooed in her ear. "Honey, do you want some Advil? Maybe a warm bath?"

"No, it's not that…" Amy pulled away from Bernadette's warm embrace and sniffed delicately. "It was just soooo beautiful…!"

"Ooohh…" The two blondes sighed in unison and propped their chin on their upturned hands as they relaxed a little. "Tell us more." Penny encouraged with a smile, "It sounds far better than my first time."

"Yeah, mine too." Bernadette agreed with a little shiver of remembrance.

"It was perfect, just perfect." Amy sighed happily and a soft smile drifted across her face as she remembered every tiny detail from the night before.

"Hoo…look at that smile!" Penny hooted and nudged Bernadette's shoulder, "Someone looks like they had a very nice time…Maybe Sheldon did read that book after all."

"I'm not going to go into detail…but let me just say two things; 1. Size **is **relevant to height and 2. Knocking isn't the only thing that Sheldon likes to do repetitively…"

"Oh my God! Three times! Amy…that's…oh my God!" Penny didn't really know what to say to that, she just pulled Amy into her arms and gave her a squishing hug. "I'm so happy for you and I'm glad it wasn't a horrible experience."

"Far from it bestie, I can honestly say it was the best night of my life." Amy wiped her eyes again with a tissue, where her emotions had got the better of her, and it was then that Sheldon walked out of the bedroom and when he saw his girlfriend in tears; immediately ran over to take her in his arms.

"Amy! Sweetheart, what's the matter?" He ran his hands up and down her spine soothingly and shot a glare over at Penny. "Penny…what did you do? I might have known that you'd start in on her as soon as I left you alone…It was Leonard wasn't it? He just couldn't keep his mouth shut, could he?"

"Cuddles…I'm alright, really. Penny was just concerned how I was feeling, she just wanted to make sure that I wasn't upset or in pain after last night."

"Oh…you said you were okay…" Sheldon hugged Amy tighter and then pulled back slightly to brush her hair away from her face so that he could see her eyes.

"I'm very okay." Amy whispered softly, her mouth curving up into a soft smile, Sheldon smiled back with his 'Amy' face and leant down to rub his nose against hers in a brief eskimo kiss. "Good." He replied back softly and they just stood their grinning at each other. Amy reached up to whisper something in his ear and Sheldon lost his smile as his face went scarlet.

"Oh…" He said quietly, avoiding Penny's gaze, "I hadn't realised…Oh, dear!"

"Sheldon, don't worry about it…Consider it payback for all the times that Leonard and I have kept you awake over the years." Penny grinned over at him and Sheldon flushed again.

"Yes, but to think that you could hear…" He waved his hand around expressively and hid his face against Amy's neck.

"Sweetie…I'm just glad that the two of you had this experience together…some people aren't that lucky with their first times and it can be messy, painful and altogether a horrifying time." Penny walked around the counter to rub a hand over Sheldon's back, and to her surprise he didn't flinch away from her touch.

"It wasn't horrible at all, far from it." Sheldon murmured quietly and gave Penny the slightest hint of a grin. Penny patted his shoulder one more time and then moved away.

"Okay, enough bragging. Come on, let's get lunch ready."

"I'll take care of lunch, Amy should take it easy today." Sheldon stroked Amy's hair and then placed his hand on the small of her back to propel her towards the couch. He placed a cushion in his spot and urged her to get comfortable.

"Sheldon, I'm fine really! It's you that should be taking it easy, not me. I know your arm was bothering you…"

"Hush…" Sheldon brushed a soft kiss over Amy's cheek and passed her the remote control. "Pick something to watch and just relax. I'll get dinner started and then we can just cuddle on the couch until it's ready. Just let me take care of you today, please?" Sheldon crouched at Amy's feet and tenderly stroked her hand, Amy curled her fingers around his palm and gave him a soft smile, reserved only for her sweet baboon.

"Okay." Amy raised his hand to her lips and pressed a gentle kiss to his palm. "Thank you."

"Oh, darlin'…it's my pleasure, believe me." Sheldon got to his feet and lowered one eye in a slow wink, Amy flushed and giggled a little as he walked back into the kitchen with a slight swagger in his steps.

"Okay ladies…let's get this dinner started!" Sheldon clapped his hands loudly and started issuing instructions. "Penny, you're on carrots; Bernadette, you have the potatoes. I'll sear the meat and do the gravy before making a start on the biscuits. Chop, chop…I've got some snuggling to do with my woman!"

"Yes, sir!" Penny and Bernadette saluted and then started laughing with Sheldon as they prepared the meal. Amy looked over at the sound of their laughter and smiled happily. Soon the soft sounds of Christmas music floated through the apartment and although Sheldon gave a little twitch when he first heard it, he soon relaxed and began to enjoy himself.

"Hey, what's with the carols? You know we've only just had Thanksgiving last week, don't you?" Howard strolled into the living room and flopped in the armchair, bringing his legs up over the side.

"Ssh…" Amy shushed him as she rested her head on the cushions and let the soothing sounds drift over her.

"Howie, let her be. You know how much Amy loves Christmas, she's just getting into the spirit a little early this year." Bernadette called over to her husband, jerking her head between Sheldon and Amy and raising her eyebrows expressively. He gave her a little nod in response, and decided to say no more on the subject. Wil, Raj and Leonard drifted back into the living room shortly afterwards, Raj taking his preferred seat on the storage bow with Wil occupying the wooden desk chair and leaning against the kitchen counter. Leonard sat on the couch next to Amy and she started to move her legs to make room for him. Leonard patted her foot, and pulled them back into their original position.

"You okay?" He whispered in a low tone, Amy just smiled again and he patted her foot once again and relaxed against the cushions. "This is nice, we don't often just all sit quietly and listen to music…it's very soothing."

"Yeah." Amy agreed, closing her eyes and enjoying the peace. She opened her eyes a few minutes later when she felt a shadow fall over her body, Sheldon was standing in front of her and she shifted over on the couch to make room for him at her side. Sheldon sat in his spot and pulled her onto his lap, leaving the middle seat for Penny. "Hmm…nice." Amy snuggled into his embrace and Sheldon tightened his arms around her waist. He hummed in agreement and nuzzled his cheek against the side of her neck.

"Aw…" Penny cooed as she fell into position next to Sheldon and cozied up to his side.

"Penny, I am not your personal cushion!" Sheldon lifted his head from Amy's neck and frowned over at his neighbour. "Please desist from treating me as such."

"Aw, Shelly…come on, let me have snuggle too…" Penny gave him a pouting expression and ignored Leonard's protests from behind her.

"Hey, I thought I was your cuddle monster?"

"Yeah, yeah…but Sheldon's a snuggle bunny; your feet are always cold."

"Bestie, as much as I love you…Sheldon is no one's snuggle bunny, except mine." Amy looked over at her best girlfriend and raised her eyebrow as she nestled deeper into Sheldon's warm embrace, feeling the heat of his body seep through his thin t-shirt layers.

"Yeah, what she said." Sheldon dropped a kiss on Amy's nose and shifted lower in his seat, getting more comfortable. Penny pouted and folded her arms across her chest. "Dear Lord, it's like having a puppy begging for scraps." Sheldon sighed heavily as Penny let out a whimper or two before raising his arm slightly. "Come on then…this is a one-time deal, Penny. Don't get any funny ideas."

"Yay!" Penny smiled as she burrowed under Sheldon's arm and wrapped an arm around his torso. "Ooh, nice and warm!"

"Hands above the waist, Penny…" Sheldon warned sternly and Penny just grinned up at him as she soaked up his warmth. Leonard gave a little sigh and then shifted over on the couch until he was curved around Penny's back.

"If you can't beat 'em…" He said with a slight shrug and Penny reached out one hand to pull his arm around her waist.

"Anyone else feeling a little weird?" Howard muttered to Bernadette and she just glared at him.

"Howie, you don't get it do you? Sheldon is actually letting people get close to him for the first time…it's a big deal so just keep your mouth shut!" She hissed in response and Howard slid lower in the chair, trying to avoid her wrath.

"That's so beautiful…" Raj sighed from the box and looked over at where the two couples were nestled together on the couch. "I don't suppose there's room for one more…?"

"No, Raj!" Penny and Sheldon yelled out together and everyone chuckled. They remained like that for another hour, before Sheldon began to feel a little uncomfortable with Penny almost sharing his lap with Amy. He began to shift slightly on the cushion and Leonard nudged Penny on the shoulder to alert her.

"Thank you, sweetie." Penny brushed a light kiss over Sheldon's cheek before she moved over to slide onto Leonard's lap. Sheldon let out a sigh of relief and flexed his arm lightly to wake it up.

"Do you want me to move as well?" Amy murmured sleepily, having drifted off into a light doze.

"Just for a bit, I need to go and…" Sheldon looked down at his lap and flushed, as Amy grinned, looking up at him with half closed eyes. "Not that, woman! I need to go and relieve my bladder!"

"Okay, cuddles." Amy shifted off Sheldon's lap and onto the cushion as he made his way down the hallway and into the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind him. Amy waited until he was out of sight before leaning forward. "Right, I need to know how many of you will be around for Christmas this year."

"Ma's going to Reno this year, and Bernie's parents are going over to her brother's for the day; we said we'd have Stuart over at our place if he didn't want to go to his parent's house." Howard offered up from the chair, silently hoping for an invitation to eat one of Amy's feasts again.

"Raj?"

"Oh..." Raj looked over at Amy with a woebegone expression. "Emily is flying out to be with her parent's this year, we both agreed that it was a little too soon in our relationship to spend Christmas as a couple; it would have been fine if she was staying in town but not when she's going out to Montreal."

"What about Priya, will she be in town over the Holidays at all?" Bernadette asked, looking over Howard's shoulder at the solemn looking astrophysicist.

"No, she's rarely in the states now that her career is taking off in Mumbai...I was just going to spend the day with my little Cinnamon."

"We'll be around, Ames…I want to be here when Sheldon sees his surprise." Penny nudged Amy's shoulder and they giggled excitedly.

"What exactly is this surprise I keep hearing about?" Wil asked from the wooden chair, "There's been a lot of whispers and giggling going on and I must be the only person that doesn't know anything about it." Bernadette checked over her shoulder to make sure that Sheldon was still in the bathroom, before she leant over to whisper into Wil's ear.

"Amy's been working on a special present for Sheldon all summer, she asked Stuart to help her track down a heap of those limited edition t-shirts that Sheldon likes to wear and she's made them into a quilt for him. I have to admit, even I think it looks really cool."

"Yeah, he's a lucky bastard." Howard muttered from the chair, hunching his shoulders together as he thought about how his wife wouldn't even let him put his light sabres on the wall by their bed, and there was Amy pouring her heart and soul into a quilt for their bed.

"Howie…what did we talk about?" Bernadette growled at her husband and he sighed heavily.

"That if I didn't make a fuss you'd let me put my R2D2 in the corner of the closet."

"If anyone's interested, I'm totally free this Christmas…My parent's are spending the holidays with Jeremy this year and my sister is going over to her in-law's…so as I'm gonna be working from the 26th through to New Year's it didn't make sense for me to fly out with them only to come straight back." Wil attempted Penny's puppy dog expression and looked over at Amy.

"Hmm," She pretended to think about it for a minute and then grinned over at him. "Poor Wil…"

"Yeah, poor Wil." He echoed and pouted on the chair, he looked over as Sheldon came back into the room. "Sheldon, Amy's being mean to me."

"Impossible, Amy doesn't have a mean bone in her body." Sheldon dismissed the idea as ludicrous and headed over to the kitchen to check on dinner. He tested the vegetables nestled around the beef and spooned a little more gravy over the top.

"Huh, that's what you think." Wil huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest and tipped his head back to look at Sheldon. "She asked everyone else what their plans were for Christmas but she didn't include me, I'm feeling very unloved here Sheldon."

"Uh-huh…" Sheldon looked up from the roasting pan and glanced over at Amy who was grinning on the couch and shaking her head at Wil's poor attempt at being pitiful. "I guess she just assumed that as you have ingrained yourself as a permanent member of our social group that you would no longer feel the need for an invitation."

"Aw, Sheldon…" Wil grinned over at his friend and stuck his tongue out at Penny. "Hah! And you said he'd kick me out as soon as he was feeling better."

"Yeah, well that's what he's done before; he kicked Raj out at one stage because he said maintaining five friendships was too much like hard work. Then he almost made Stuart leave as soon as I got back from the Space Station, it was only when Stuart offered him a discount in the store that he agreed to keep him on." Howard griped from the chair, but quickly shut up when Bernadette growled lightly in her throat.

"You're not going to Texas this year, Sheldon? I thought you had a great time there last year…" Penny said, trying to keep the grin off her face.

"Penny, I hardly think seeing my sister expel a tiny being out of her lady parts counts as 'enjoying myself'." Sheldon replied, giving a little tut. He slid the roasting pan back into the oven before crossing the lounge to sit back on the couch, pulling Amy back onto his lap and clasping their hands together. "Amy and I will be spending our first Christmas together here at Los Robles. As I said to Wil, we had assumed that you would all join us if you didn't have other plans."

"Well thank you, Sheldon, I for one would be delighted to accept your kind invitation." Wil bowed his head in acceptance and blew Amy a kiss.

"Don't thank me, it was Amy's idea…I wanted to spend the day in our pyjama's watching DVD's but Amy insists that we have a 'proper' Christmas." Sheldon frowned slightly and then shrugged it off. "Anyway, what my woman wants; my woman gets… So, I guess we're doing the whole thing this year…tree, decorations, lights…everything."

"It's gonna be great!" Amy beamed happily around the room. "I've got everything planned already…turkey with all the trimmings…pies, cakes, cookies. I'm not going to work on my book at all during December, because I want this to be the best Christmas ever!"

"I'm in." Bernadette grinned over at Amy and nudged Howard, he looked up and pointed at his wife. "What she said."

"Oh, this is perfect! I always wanted a proper American Christmas…can we string popcorn on the tree?" Raj clapped his hands in glee, smiling brightly and forgetting his unhappiness about being parted from Emily for a while.

"Well, I don't really like the idea of stringing popcorn on the tree…it's going to be up for a long time and I'm worried that it will start to smell." Amy had a different idea in mind, she scrambled off Sheldon's lap and disappeared down into the spare room, emerging a few minutes later with some delicately etched wooden beads in her hands. "I thought we could make our own garlands…look, don't you think they look like popcorn kernels? And we could put a few of these red beads among them to look like cranberries." She showed Raj the beads and he grinned over at Penny and Bernadette.

"I feel another girl's night coming on ladies! Remember when we had our jewellery night? This could be just like that!"

"Hold on a minute…what if we want to have some fun as well?" Leonard walked over to take the beads from Raj and took a closer look. "Why does it have to be a girl's night? I love Christmas and I wanna help too."

"How about a Christmas weekend then instead?" Amy suggested. "We can all come over here, make the garland, put the tree and decorations up and maybe make up a few batches of cookies at the same time."

"Ooh… are you going to do your gingerbread house again?" Penny asked, remembering how tasty the treat was, and the way that the whole gang had taken turns in decorating it.

"You made a gingerbread house without me? I love gingerbread." Sheldon pouted a little, he hadn't realised how much he had missed when he was in Texas last Christmas.

"Yeah, Amy made the pieces and we all helped glue it together with icing…Howard kept stealing the chocolate drops for the roof." Raj grinned over at Howard who chuckled in remembrance.

"Good times…"

"Right that's settled." Sheldon stalked over to the calendar and made a big red circle around the following weekend. "Everyone will meet here next Saturday and Operation Ho-Ho-Ho will commence, I'm not missing out on another gingerbread house this year!" He pinned the calendar back on the board and looked around the room. "I will send you all a reminder via e-mail, you will need to dress appropriately for the occasion – no slutty elves this year though, Penny. Let's try to keep it family friendly for a change." He checked the time on his watch, and then walked back into the kitchen area. "Okay, dinner will be in precisely fifteen minutes. I'm going put the biscuits in now, that gives you enough time to get the tables in place and wash up. Come along, let's not dawdle. We've got things to plan before next weekend!"


	27. Chapter 27

Amy started sneaking little pieces of Christmas into the apartment in the days following Thanksgiving, her strategy was to slowly decorate the apartment bit by bit rather than overwhelm Sheldon all at once. One day while he and Leonard were secluded in the fortress working on a particular difficult chapter together, Amy decided to have a break from her own writing and make a start on her Christmas baking. She poked her head into the fortress and saw Sheldon standing in front of one of the whiteboards with a frustrated look on his face.

"I'm just going out for some groceries…is there anything I can pick up for you guys?" Sheldon immediately left the whiteboard and crossed over to kiss his girlfriend goodbye.

"Could you pick me up some Red Vines, please?"

"They're already on my list…anything else?" Amy waved her grocery list in the air and looked over at Leonard, who was rubbing his tired eyes in an effort to concentrate.

"Nah, we're good…although if you can think of a way to make M Theory sound sexy…we'd love to hear it."

"Sorry guys, you're on your own for that one. I'll be back shortly." Amy pecked Sheldon on the cheek and left them to puzzle over the complexities of the chapter while she went out for the necessary baking supplies.

A few frustrating hours later, Sheldon suddenly looked up from his laptop and sniffed the air like a bloodhound on the scent. "It can't be…Oh, Dear Lord it is!"

"What?" Leonard looked up from his own laptop and glanced over at Sheldon, who was sitting there with a silly grin on his face.

"It's time for a little break, Leonard. Sometimes you need to let your mind relax in order to regain clarity. It worked for me when I was struggling…" They both looked up as Amy walked through the doorway of the fortress and crooked her fingers at Sheldon, and then left again without saying a word. Sheldon pushed back his chair and followed his green eyed vixen back out into the kitchen and his eyes lit up as he saw what she had been working on all morning.

"Amy…it's perfect!" He walked over to the kitchen counter where Amy had baked several gingerbread structures and set them out to cool on the side. She had filled several bowls with an assortment of colourful candy and there were piping bags oozing with thick white icing at the ready.

"I was going to make a couple of batches of cookies, but when I saw you were frustrated this morning; I thought you mind something to take your mind off things for a while. If working as a busboy at The Cheesecake Factory worked for you, then maybe assembling a few gingerbread houses will do the same."

"Leonard, get out here! You've got to come and see what Amy's done for us…" Sheldon called down the hallway and soon the weary physicist appeared on the landing. His eyes roved over the counter and a small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Amy, this is great…"

"I thought you might enjoy helping me put a couple of these together. We made one last year and everyone had a great time." Amy smiled over at the two lovable geeks as they raced each other to get to the counter. "There's three houses to assemble, I thought we could put them together in an assembly line; I've made up three bags of icing. If we all take a side piece and an end piece and glue them together to start with…" Amy demonstrated by running a thick line of icing along one side piece and then joined on an end piece at a forty five degree angle. She held it in place for a few seconds and then set it aside. "Once we've got all of the sides done, Leonard can stick the halves together while Sheldon builds the roofs and I'll make up the chimney stacks."

"I love the way your mind works, Doctor Fowler." Sheldon dropped a kiss on Amy's sweet smelling hair, and inhaled the scent of the spices that permeated the silken strands. "Let's get started!" Sheldon walked over to the kitchen sink and gave his hands a thorough wash, closely followed by Leonard. They both then pulled the sweet treats closer and started the assembly. Soft Christmas music was playing quietly in the background and soon the gingerbread houses began to take shape under their hands. In almost no time at all, the three houses were fully assembled.

"We just need to run another couple of lines of icing along all of the joins, this will make sure that they don't come apart…we need to leave them to dry for about ten minutes and then you can go to town on decorating them; there aren't any rules, just do whatever feels right." Amy picked up the piping bag once more and squeezed the end gently, neatly running the tip over each join and then making some decorative patterns along the roof line to emulate icicles. "There, by the time I've washed out these bags they should be ready for decorating…although I may need to refill the candy bowls." She gave Sheldon an amused smile and he attempted to look apologetic but failed when he started to grin. Both he and Leonard had helped themselves to the candy as they were icing the pieces together and now the bowls were almost empty. Leonard wandered over to change the disc on the stereo and the soft crooning voice of Harry Connick, Jnr filled the living room, and Amy hummed along under her breath as she crossed over to the sink to fill the bowl with soapy water.

_'__In my eyes are Valentine's_

_And Easter eggs and New Year's wine_

_But when my heart finds Christmas_

_My eyes will shine like new'_

Sheldon watched her dreamy eyed expression for a moment before walking up behind her to wrap his arms around her middle and swaying with her. He shut off the running water and turned her around into his arms, before waltzing her out into the middle of the living room. Leonard perched on the arm of the couch and watched the couple slow dance along to the music, Amy leant her head against Sheldon's shoulder and he tucked their joined hands against his chest as he dropped his chin on top of her hair.

'_Let the angels sing around us_

_Christmas time is here_

_Let our children's love surround us_

_Laughing and filled with cheer_

_My heart told me once before_

_To find my dream and search no more_

_And when my heart finds Christmas_

_I hope it finds you too'_

"Thank you, Amy." Sheldon murmured as the song came to an end and they stopped moving.

"What for, Sheldon?" Amy raised her head to look up at her boyfriend.

"For bringing Christmas back to me, I'd forgotten all of the little things that I used to enjoy about the season. Meemaw and Pop-Pop used to dance along to the oldies at Christmas time and they would bake cookies together and decorate the tree. This week has reminded me about all of that, so thank you."

"You're very welcome." Amy whispered as she reached up to press a soft kiss against Sheldon's jaw, and he smiled at her tender caress.

"Can we decorate the gingerbread houses now?"

"Of course we can." Amy clasped Sheldon's hand tightly as they walked back over to the counter where Leonard had been waiting patiently for their dance to finish. The three of them laughed and joked their way through decorating the gingerbread houses and when they were finished, Leonard beamed happily when Amy let him take one of the finished houses back over to Penny's with him.


	28. Chapter 28

A few nights later, Sheldon and Amy were snuggled together under a fleecy throw on the couch with just the glow from the lights on their newly decorated Christmas tree shining behind them. They were watching a romantic comedy on the TV and for once, Sheldon wasn't complaining over the movie choice. He was enjoying the romantic ambiance from the dim lighting and the fragrant smell drifting over the apartment from the scented candles that Amy had placed along the kitchen counter. A brief tap on the apartment door, had him looking over to see Leonard and Penny peering around the frame.

"Hey, would you guys like to join us in a movie tonight?" Penny asked as she walked into the living room, Sheldon paused the DVD and looked down at Amy. She wrinkled up her nose a little at the idea of leaving their cosy nest and he tapped the tip with his index finger before looking up to reply.

"Thank you, but no. We've just settled in to watch a DVD after spending the afternoon decorating the tree; we're having hot cocoa and gingerbread cookies a little later so we're all set."

"Ooh…is it normal cocoa or Amy's special blend?" Leonard rubbed his hands together gleefully, having already sampled a few mugs of Amy's version of the Christmas drink.

"My version." Amy replied with a small smile, snuggling closer to Sheldon and wrapping her arm around his waist. Leonard glanced over at the kitchen counter where he saw the makings for the cocoa set out in readiness, he also saw the fragrant candles and beautifully decorated tree in the corner and looked over at his fiancée. Penny raised her eyebrows and wandered over to perch on the edge of the armchair.

"What are you watching?" Penny asked curiously as she glanced over at the paused scene on the screen, not recognising the movie.

"While You Were Sleeping." Sheldon replied cautiously, having noticed the little gesture from Leonard. "Have a nice time at the movies." He strongly hinted that it was time for them to go, but Leonard thought it sounded far nicer to have a quiet evening at home.

"It is getting a little late to be going out now, besides we hadn't yet agreed on what we'd be watching yet." Leonard remarked, and Amy nudged Sheldon who sighed heavily throwing Penny the second blanket from the back of the couch.

"Very well, you can stay and watch this movie with us…no canoodling on the armchair though, we've just had it steam cleaned." Leonard grinned as he cuddled up with Penny in the armchair and draped the blanket over their legs. Sheldon started the movie again from the beginning and the two couples watched in silence as Lucy fell in love with Jack while his brother lay in a coma in hospital.

"One question…why doesn't she just tell Jack how she feels?" Penny asked and Amy glanced over.

"Because everyone thinks that she is in love with Peter; she did originally think that she may love him but it was just a crush; she never really found love until she met Jack."

"But she's never actually spoken with Peter…he was just someone she saw every day at the station."

"Exactly...he was just a fantasy, Jack's the real deal. Now, hush up bestie and watch the rest." Amy hushed her best friend and settled back into the curve of Sheldon's arms. He tucked the fleece closer around her legs, and their hands were clasped resting on Sheldon's thigh. Sheldon glanced over at Leonard a little later and saw the other man brushing away a tear from behind his glasses, just as Lucy declared her love for Jack during her wedding ceremony to his brother, Peter. Sheldon nudged Amy and she looked around his shoulder and smiled at the sight of Leonard wiping his eyes.

"Everything okay over there?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah…just a little something in my eye." Leonard sniffed a little and Penny rubbed his arm, bringing it around her shoulder and kissing the back of his hand.

"Don't worry, it all works out in the end." Amy reassured him, and Leonard smiled faintly in response, at the same time as Sheldon hissed under his breath.

"Spoilers, Amy!" He realised that he may have sounded a little harsh, and kissed her gently on the forehead in apology. "Sorry, darlin'…I didn't mean for it to come out like that."

"That's okay, I know you didn't mean it. Shall we pause it for a moment and prepare the cocoa?"

"Sounds good, I could do with a comfort break." Leonard stretched out his legs and Penny yawned behind her hand.

"I'll give you a hand."

"No need, bestie. Sheldon and I have got it covered." Amy waved away her offer of assistance and Sheldon leant down to help her to her feet, hand in hand they walked over to the counter and assembled the rest of the ingredients. Sheldon poured the milk into the waiting pan while Amy grated the dark chocolate into a small bowl. As the milk heated, Sheldon added the chocolate and a little vanilla bean paste, stirring the mixture together with a wooden spoon. Amy added a dash of chocolate liquor and a smidgeon of sugar before pouring the smooth liquid into the waiting ceramic mugs that were gaily patterned with grinning Santas and snowmen.

"Ooh…chocolate liquor, Sheldon…how naughty!" Penny accepted the mug with a smirk over in Sheldon's direction. He waved off the comment and added a few marshmallows to his and Amy's mugs, he did the same for Leonard, already familiar with how his former room-mate preferred his beverage having already shared a number of the drinks with him over the past week or so. "Hmm…lovely." Penny hummed under her breath as she took her first sip of the fragrant brew.

Sheldon spread a layer of spicy gingerbread cookies on a festive plate and carried it over to the coffee table. Amy set their mugs down next to the plate and everyone resumed their seats as Sheldon resumed the movie, soon the only sounds in the apartment were the munching of the soft cookies and the murmurs of appreciation that followed. The movie finished after about ten minutes and Leonard looked over at Sheldon once it had finished.

"I enjoyed that one, what did you make of it Sheldon?"

"It was okay, Amy wanted to watch a romantic comedy that was also Christmassy – that was the least objectionable." Sheldon didn't want to say just how much he had enjoyed the movie in front of Penny, but the slight squeeze he gave Amy's hand told her that he wouldn't be too hard to persuade when it came to her other Christmas movie selection.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Leonard. Perhaps you'd like to join us on Thursday when we watch another one? It's Sheldon's choice and he's picked 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'."

"Oh, I like that one…" Leonard grinned over at Sheldon, thinking that it wasn't too long ago that they had both enjoyed watching all of the Tim Burton movies together on that very couch.

"Bernie and I are working late this Thursday; we've got some clients to schmooze from out of town, so I won't be able to make it." Penny shrugged at Amy's soft murmur of disappointment, "Leonard can come over if he likes, I won't be back until very late as it's an over dinner thing."

"Leonard, will you join us? It will be like old times…" Sheldon glanced over at his friend, who nodded in agreement, already wondering what Christmas treat Amy had in store for the movie night; she seemed to be cooking up something new every day and his mouth was already watering at the thought.

"Huh…sounds like an ordinary day at the office if you ask me. Leonard's always over here any way during the day so it doesn't seem to make much difference." Penny grinned over at Amy, who nodded in agreement.

"Yup, the only difference is that he now goes home to you afterwards rather than sleeping here." Both ladies chuckled at Leonard's hurt expression and Amy leant across Sheldon's lap to pat Leonard's hand. "I'm only kidding, Leonard…you know you're always welcome over here."

"Except for when it's our Date Night, of course." Sheldon interjected, and Penny looked over at him with a wry grin.

"You guys still have Date Night even after you started living together?"

"Of course, it's important to keep the romance alive. It's still the third Thursday in the month and we make an effort to do something special together, rather than just stay at home." Sheldon replied, looking down at Amy with a soft smile. She linked their fingers together and nestled in against his side. Penny sighed softly at the sight and glanced over at her fiancé.

"Sweetie, we need to have Date Night."

"This **is **Date Night; we're watching a movie and we're not at home…ergo, Date Night." Leonard theorised and Penny gave him a high five.

"There's my romance ninja!" Sheldon shook his head and gave Amy a wry grin.

"Amateurs." He whispered near her ear, and Amy ran a finger down his cheek as she smiled into his eyes, silently agreeing with him. For their last Date Night, which had been the previous Thursday Amy had arranged for a special evening for Sheldon at the zoo. One of the koala females had recently given birth and through her contacts at the university, Amy had arranged for Sheldon to fill in for one of the nursery attendants for the evening; helping to feed the infant koala and then have a cuddle while the mother was recovering from surgery. There had been slight complications during the birth which meant the mother was unable to care for the infant herself, so the zookeepers were hand rearing the cub until it was old enough to fend for itself. Sheldon had been ecstatic when he had been led into the koala enclosure and his enthusiasm had carried over into the bedroom once they returned home, making Amy doubly glad that her plan had come to fruition.

"Uh-oh…eye coitus alert!" Penny murmured to Leonard and Sheldon's keen sense of hearing picked up on her murmur and he shot her a grin.

"You should try it sometimes, it only gets better in the bedroom."

"Sheldon!" Amy slapped at his bare forearm and frowned at her boyfriend. Sheldon gave her a squeeze in response.

"You know it's true, darlin'…"

"I know that, but there's no need to be telling everyone our bedroom secrets…some things should remain private."

"And on that note, I think it is time for us to get moving." Penny rose from the armchair and held out a hand to Leonard. He pulled himself up and followed his fiancée across the living room, turning to address Sheldon once they reached the door.

"See you tomorrow?"

"Sure, we'll carry on with M Theory in the morning." Sheldon waved them goodnight and rose from the couch to collect up the dirty mugs.

"Night bestie… See you in the morning, Leonard." Amy called over as she folded the blankets up and set them on the back of the couch, before crossing over to eject the DVD and returned it to the case.

"See you, Amy." Penny and Leonard chorused together, and they left to return to their own apartment across the hall. Sheldon rinsed out the mugs and placed them and the dirty saucepan in the dishwasher, flicking off the under counter light in the kitchen area.

"Ready to call it a night, Amy?"

"Sure, it was nice having Leonard and Penny over tonight, wasn't it?" Amy blew out the candles along the counter and strolled over to switch off the Christmas lights. Sheldon checked that the front door was locked and the deadbolt was in place before following Amy down the hallway and into the bathroom.

"Yes, very nice; although I was enjoying our cosy cuddle on the couch earlier." Sheldon brushed his teeth and patted his face dry with the towel, holding it ready for Amy as she rinsed her mouth and spat the mouthwash into the sink. She accepted the offering and then tossed it into the laundry hamper on her way out of the bathroom; pausing for a moment to grin over at Sheldon.

"Well, if you play your cards right…you may just find more than a cosy cuddle waiting for you in the bedroom…" Amy gave a little high pitched squeal as Sheldon grabbed her hand and tugged her along the corridor.

"C'mon then darlin'...we've got some snugglin' to do." Sheldon flicked off the lights in the hallway as he steered Amy into the bedroom. Amy loved the fact that Sheldon was more than happy to take charge in their intimate endeavours and although he was turning out to be very skilled in that area, both of them loved curling up around each other as they basked in the afterglow of satisfaction. Those hours that they simply held each other close in the darkness and spoke of their growing love were the times that they cherished and Sheldon felt more and more certain that he wanted to share those moments with Amy for the rest of his life.


	29. Chapter 29

**AN: This chapter gets a little smutty, so if that's not your thing feel free to skip ahead…you might miss something very important though!**

The next day Amy received a delivery of a bulky parcel tied up in brown paper and when she read the label on the outside, quickly hid it away in the spare room until she could unwrap it without Sheldon seeing the contents.

"Was that the door, Amy?" Sheldon asked as he walked back into the living room after visiting the bathroom.

"Yes, just a parcel that was too large to leave on the lobby table. Sheldon, I need a few hours in the fortress tonight…it's not because I want to get away from you or anything." Amy quickly assured her boyfriend after a worried expression flittered over his face. "I've just got a few last minute bits and pieces to finish off and you'll be heading over to Comic Central with the guys this evening anyway, so don't panic if you find the door locked…some things are better left as a surprise."

"Oh Amy, you know I'm not fond of surprises." Sheldon gave a little moue of distaste and Amy walked over to brush a soft kiss against his pursed lips, murmuring quietly against his mouth.

"Trust me, Tex…you're gonna love this one."

"Hmm…" Sheldon hummed against her lips and slipped his hand around her waist to pull her closer against him as he parted his lips to deepen their kiss. It was Amy's turn to hum as his mouth rubbed against hers as the kiss turned deep and lush, leaving them both a little breathless and flushed afterwards.

"Hoo…" Amy murmured as she slowly drew away, running her finger along Sheldon's slightly swollen lower lip.

"Hoo, indeed." Sheldon replied huskily as his darkened eyes gave away his desire, "Are you sure I can't persuade you to let me in on your little surprise?"

"Just a few more days and you will be able to see it for yourself." Amy slipped her hands into Sheldon's rear pockets and tugged him a little closer. He looped his arms around her waist and smiled softly down at her.

"I'm glad we decided to have a quiet Christmas at home this year, I know that we discussed spending it in Texas but I really wanted this year to be special for us."

"How could it not be? We're living together now and closer than we ever have been, it's going to be a wonderful Christmas, Sheldon and I can't wait for you to unwrap your present."

"Hmm…only if it comes wrapped in a silky peach bathrobe." Sheldon rubbed his nose lightly against Amy's and she giggled softly.

"Perhaps I will let you open that one a little earlier rather than making you wait until Christmas Day." Amy murmured teasingly as she withdrew her hands from his pocket to trail her fingers under Sheldon's t-shirt, hearing him utter a breathy giggle.

"Ooh…Vixen, we're supposed to be working today!"

"I don't wanna work…I'd rather do this…" Amy ran her fingers along Sheldon's waistband until her knuckles brushed against the light dusting of hair around his navel; she slipped the button through the buttonhole and hovered above the zipper as her eyes locked with Sheldon's steamy blue gaze. His hand moved down to cover hers as he pushed her hand into his pants, forcing the zipper to part as he wrapped her hand around his turgid length and squeezed lightly.

"Mmm…maybe I should wrap a bow around it and pretend it's my present from you." Amy murmured as she nudged Sheldon's hand out of the way and slipped her hand through the slit of his briefs until it was skin on skin contact. Sheldon hissed through his teeth as his hips jerked forward when Amy started up a gentle pumping motion of her hand.

"God…you keep that up and you can unwrap me any time you want to…Ah, so good!" Sheldon closed his eyes and leant his head back, giving himself over to the feel of Amy's small hand moving up and down his shaft. "I'm gonna…oh shit!" Sheldon's eyes flew open as he felt a sudden warmth enclose his length and he looked down to see Amy kneeling at his feet as she gently took him into her mouth. Sheldon's hands wrapped themselves in her hair as he needed something to hold onto as she started to nibble and suck more urgently. "Oh baby…yes…yes…YES!" Sheldon screamed from the back of his throat as he shot huge streams of his essence down the back of Amy's throat, he tried to pull back a little frightened that Amy would gag on the salty liquid but she gripped onto his thighs all the tighter as she swallowed it all down. Amy's head continued to bob slowly as she lapped up all of the stray pearls of liquid that coated Sheldon's shaft, her tongue giving him a thorough cleansing as she hummed her approval under her breath. Sheldon's fingers relaxed in her hair and slid around to cradle the back of her head as he continued to thrust lazily forward, enjoying the vibrations of Amy's throat whenever she hummed; feeling the answering tingle all the way down his spine. He was a little disappointed when Amy finally drew back her head, as he was still hard within her mouth, but when she gave him a slow wink and started walking backwards down the hall he immediately started to follow; both shucking off their clothes and leaving them trailing behind them as they raced toward the bedroom.

"Did you enjoy that Tex?" Amy murmured huskily as she peeled off her blouse to reveal her pale pink bra. Sheldon stepped forward as he wrestled his t-shirt over his head, and his hands came up to start massaging her plump breasts in his hands; pushing them together so that they over spilled the cups.

"You have to ask? Amy, that was the most intense experience of my life and I loved it…" Sheldon squeezed the plastic clip of her bra together, releasing her bounty from their tight confines and giving a sigh when her breasts spilled out into his hands. "I love it when they do that, all soft and warm; and fitting perfectly into my hands." He rubbed his cheeks between the valley of her breasts, giving each one a brief kiss as he slipped the straps down and off her arms.

"Let's not forget the fact that you have large hands, so therefore my breasts are a little on the large size…" Amy stepped away briefly to hook her fingers in the banding of her briefs and again Sheldon's fingers nudged hers out of the way so that he could take over the task.

"Your breasts are perfect, as are your thighs." Sheldon trailed his palms over her silky skin as he pushed her briefs down her legs. "Your skin is so soft and when your legs wrap around me and hold me inside...it's just perfect and I never want to leave."

"Are you trying to seduce me, Sheldon Lee Cooper?" Amy asked with a soft grin, and Sheldon looked up from where he was worshipping at her navel, kneeling at her feet with his hands on her thighs.

"Why, is it working?" Sheldon grinned back a little wickedly as his fingers moved around to lightly start up a gentle caress of her inner thighs, drifting slowly upwards as Amy's legs parted to allow him greater access. "Oh my, what do we have here?" Sheldon's drawl came out a little husky as his fingers rediscovered the hidden pearl of her desire, slipping inside her slick walls to roll it between his fingers. His left hand nudged her leg to hook over his shoulder and Amy balanced herself by resting her hands on his strong forearms, something she was grateful for as his dextrous right hand went exploring further. "Hmm…that's new." Sheldon's long forefinger brushed up against a particularly sensitive patch of nerves and when he felt Amy shiver at his touch, concentrated his efforts there; sliding his fingers in and out slowly at first and then increasing in intensity when he felt her moisture pooling.

"Sheldon, please…I need you."

"Tell me what you need, love…I'm here." Sheldon added a third finger to the mix, stretching her walls slightly as gave them a little twist and flicking his index finger at the newly discovered spot.

"Make love to me, please." Amy begged, clamping down on his fingers as her hands bent into to claws; the sensations were incredible but it couldn't come close to matching how perfect it felt when Sheldon was inside her.

"Oh darlin', I'm so hard that I'm afraid I won't be able to be gentle with you."

"Then don't be, I need you so much." Amy was almost crying as she pleaded with Sheldon, and he withdrew his fingers slowly; his gaze almost feral with intent as he backed her onto the bed.

"You shouldn't have said that." He growled as he pushed Amy hard down onto the mattress and climbed up her body, rubbing himself over her with every movement.

"Why?" Amy whispered as her hands roved all over his back, coming to rest on his taut buttocks and urging him against her heated core.

"Because I'm now going to fuck you until you see stars…I warned you and you didn't listen…Now you have to pay the price." Sheldon forced her thighs to part even wider and without ceremony shoved himself deep inside her until he couldn't go any further. Amy let out a high pitched wail as she felt the tip of him brush up against the entrance to her womb as Sheldon started thrusting. He showed her no mercy as he withdrew almost completely and slammed in hard, feeling his scrotum slap against her buttocks with every relentless thrust.

Amy wailed and thrashed her head against the pillows as she felt every steely inch of him moving harder and faster inside her.

"Look at me." Sheldon ordered in a low, gruff tone. "Keep your eyes open, I want you to see who's fucking you." He moved Amy's hands above her head and ordered her to keep them there, the movement thrusting her breasts in the air. He dived his head down to suckle strongly at one breast and then the other, and when he felt Amy's internal walls ripple around him; bit down lightly on her nipple and she screamed his name loudly as she felt herself fall over the edge of the precipice. Sheldon released her nipple from his mouth and slammed his hands down either side of Amy's head as he raised himself up on his elbows slightly as started to thrust more erratically.

"Come on…yes, that's it." Sheldon muttered under his breath as he felt a tightening at the base of his spine, warning him that his climax was near. He could feel the sweat pouring off him as he continued to pound into Amy, making the headboard slam against the wall with every thrust. Amy was still screaming as she continued to climax around him and he could feel her walls tightening their grip around him and it was enough to start tipping him over the edge.

"FUCK!" He roared as with one last slam he gave him over to sensation, biting down hard on Amy's neck as he sent hot floods of liquid gushing into Amy's core. His hips jerked as he continued to spurt, feeling her squeeze every last drop out of him until he was wrung dry. Completely exhausted, Sheldon slumped over Amy's prone body as they both continued to pant heavily.

"Sorry, don't know what came over me…I can't believe I spoke to you like that!" Sheldon muttered as he feebly attempted to roll over to his side, cradling Amy against his worn out body. "I think I pulled something in my back…"

"Sheldon, that was so…"

"Disgusting? I'm sorry, it won't happen again, I promise."

"No! I was going to say that it was completely hot! You were like an animal and I loved it…" Amy wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled her head against his neck, lapping up the little beads of sweat that formed there. "I love it when we take it slowly, but I could live with it if you did that every once in a while…"

"Noted…" Sheldon dropped a kiss to her cheek and then frowned when he saw the angry red mark on her neck. "Oops…I think I gave you a pretty nasty hickey there, it might be difficult to cover that one up."

"Don't worry about it, I'm pretty sure I scratched some deep furrows on your back when you were going wild…maybe that's what is sore."

"Hmm…" Sheldon craned his neck around to try and see the damage, and then shrugged it off. "No real harm done. Can I just say that I loved my Christmas present?"

"You are more than welcome, Doctor Cooper…I loved mine, too."

"Oh, that wasn't your present…wait a minute." Sheldon rolled over in bed to rummage through the pockets of his trousers, glancing behind when he felt a soft hand squeeze his taut behind.

"Sorry, couldn't resist…it was just there and you know how much I love it."

"It is aesthetically pleasing, even I have to admire how it looks in a pair of tuxedo pants." Sheldon grinned as he bend over the edge of the bed once more, deliberately wiggling his behind in the air and hoping that Amy would cop another feel. "Mmm…I love your hands touching me. Just saying that it's right there if you wanted to move your hand a few degrees north…"

"In your dreams, Cooper…I'm too tired for another round just yet, I'm still recovering from what happened the last time."

"Meany…maybe this will change your mind." Sheldon finally laid his hand on the prize and rolled over to his back, keeping his hand tightly closed to hide the contents. "You're not the only one that's been on the receiving end of a few mystery parcels this week. Do you remember a certain conversation we had in this bed just a few weeks ago?" Sheldon opened up his hand to reveal a small box and Amy's breath hitched in her throat.

"Sheldon?"  
>"I love you, Amy and I want to wake up next to you for the rest of my life." Sheldon knelt on the bed and clasped her hand in his, reaching over to flip up the lid of the velvet lined box. "Meemaw helped me pick it out a few months ago, she was keeping it safe until I was ready…Amy Farrah Fowler, will you make me the happiest man in the universe and agree to be my wife?"<p>

"YES!" Amy squealed and threw herself into Sheldon's arms, sobbing against his shoulder. "I love you so much."  
>"And I love you." Sheldon wiped away her tears with his thumb, and held up the ring. "Shall we see if it fits?" Amy held out her trembling hand and Sheldon slid the ring over her knuckle, admiring the way the diamond sparkled against her pale skin. "A perfect fit for a perfect lady."<p>

"I'm not perfect, Sheldon, far from it." Sheldon placed his finger over her lips to prevent her saying anything further.

"To me you are the very definition of the word and I don't want to hear another peep from you unless it's 'yes, Sheldon'. Okay?"

"Yes, Sheldon." Amy smirked at him and Sheldon tapped her nose playfully. He flung the empty box onto the bedside cabinet and rolled Amy beneath him, pressing a kiss to her lips, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Yes, Sheldon." Amy nodded obediently and Sheldon grinned as he dropped a trail of kisses down her neck. "Yes, Sheldon." Amy murmured as his mouth moved lower and lower, until finally she was incapable of remembering her own name, never mind his…


	30. Chapter 30

"Leonard! Thank goodness you're here! Tell me, should I wear the burgundy cummerbund or the white to match my shirt? What tie should I wear?" Sheldon's panicked dash from the bedroom had Leonard chuckling to himself.

"Relax, Sheldon…Amy's the one that's supposed to be all in a dither not you. For someone that only decided to get married about twenty minutes ago, she's pretty calm about the whole thing."

"But what if she realises that I'm not the great catch that she thinks I am and backs out at the last second? I need to make myself look so appealing that she won't be able to resist me! Now, help me decide please!"

"Okay, you're wearing the tux that you bought for Howard's wedding?"

"Gosh no! I bought a full morning suit especially for the occasion, it has a longer length jacket that will make Amy see me as something out of her beloved regency tales." Sheldon dismissed Leonard's idea that he would wear the very same suit as silly, if Amy got to wear a special dress for her big day, he was going to wear something just as zazzy!

"Oh, very nice…I wonder what I would look like in something like that for my wedding…" Leonard sucked his stomach in a little as he held the long coat in front of him, staring at his reflection in the mirror. "You got it in grey rather than black, too…good choice."

"Yes, grey doesn't make my skin look so washed out. So, burgundy or white?" Sheldon held up the two lengths of material for inspection and Leonard tilted his head to the side.

"Hmm…I saw the little velvet cape that you picked out for Amy, that's burgundy so you should go with the same colour for your tie and cummerbund. Do you have a burgundy tie to match?"

"Of course, I went with a bow tie rather than a traditional Windsor; I picked up a matching tie for you as well. Do you have a grey suit that you could wear?"

"I think so, it's a shade lighter than this one, but it will do nicely. I take it I'm standing up with you then?" Sheldon looked at Leonard as if he had said something completely ridiculous and patted his shoulder.

"Who else would I have chosen on this momentous occasion? You'll be my best man and Penny of course, is Amy's maid of honour. Right that's the clothes sorted, we've got to get the living room organised now; everything we need is in the closet…I told Amy that's where I was keeping her Christmas present stored, so she's kept her distance all week." Sheldon carefully hung the cummerbund and tie over the coat hanger and stepped out of the bedroom and into the living room. "I'd like to move the couch over so that it's parallel with the desk and then have the arch set up next to the Christmas tree…there should be a garland and little fairy lights to wrap around the arch in the closet as well." Sheldon moved the coffee table over to the kitchen counter and started rolling up the rug, exposing the bare wooden floor.

"Should I move the telephone table out of the way as well?" Leonard looked at the small table was sitting next to the tree and Sheldon nodded.

"Yeah, it's kind of right in the way there. I've got a couple of panels under my bed that I borrowed from the university, I thought we could set them up as some sort of room divider, hiding the couch away out of sight."

"Nice…we could drape some cloths over the top of the panels to make them look a little more formal." Leonard scurried off to retrieve the panels from beneath Sheldon's bed as the other man started rummaging through his clean linens in search of some cream sheets.

"Ah, perfect!" He pulled out a couple of sets that Amy had brought over from her apartment and was just setting them down on the armchair when Raj and Howard let themselves in.

"Sheldon! Congratulations, man…I couldn't be happier for you!" Howard grinned over at Sheldon, slapping him on the back to congratulate him. Both men were dressed in neat suits, with a plain tie and Raj was carrying his certificate under his arm.

"Could you give me a hand shifting the couch over there?" Sheldon jerked his head over to the platform and all three men crab walked the heavy couch over in place. Leonard came in with the dividers and quickly set them up, hiding the computer desk and couch from view. "I'll just drape these over…" Sheldon muttered under his breath and Raj gently nudged him aside.

"Dude, decorating is my speciality…go and grab a shower or something to eat and let me take care of this for you."

"Yeah, I'll set up the arch and do the lights…you go and get ready; I'll come through and do your tie a bit later." Leonard gave Sheldon a gentle shove toward the bathroom and stood there waiting until Sheldon left. Leonard then turned to Raj and Howard and rubbed his hands together. "Did you get everything else set up?"

"Yeah, Wil's gonna be here around eleven…Stuart's bringing the present, he's been working on it ever since Amy moved in and just had the last bit to finish off as soon as we knew Sheldon was going to pop the question." Howard looked up from where he was assembling the arch on the floor and with Leonard's help raised it upright, next to the tree.

"Now for the lights and flower garland…" Leonard grabbed the items from the bottom of the closet and started twining the garland up the sides of the arch, fastening them in place with a little wire as he went. "Hey, Raj there are a couple of bunches of loose flowers here, do you want to fasten them to the top of the divider?"

"Great idea, I've gathered the material together so that it creates soft billowing drapes and those flowers would look great along the curves."

"Try not to use too many staples, I don't think Amy would appreciate great holes made in the top of her sheets." Howard grinned over at where Raj was wielding the staple gun like it was his best friend.

"I'll buy her new ones, you can't skimp on the staples if you want to create a work of art…and this my friend, is a work of art." Raj stepped back and tapped his finger against his chin thoughtfully, "I think I'm done here."

"Raj, that looks amazing." Bernadette's gasp from the doorway had the guys looking around in surprise. "Amy wanted me to come over and collect a few things out of the bedroom for her, contact lenses, toiletries so forth."

"I think Sheldon's still in the shower so you should be okay to head back there." Leonard jerked his head down the hallway and Bernadette skipped off. "Okay, what are we going to do about this bare floor? It doesn't look very appealing does it?"

"Does Amy have any of that fake snow left in the batcave? We could spray it over the floor and add a little glitter for added sparkle. It washes off with a little soap and water so it won't do any damage." Raj offered his suggestion and both men agreed it was a fine plan. Leonard knew just where Amy kept the cans and headed off into the spare room to fetch it, meeting Bernadette coming down the hallway on his way.

"How's Amy doing over there?"

"Great, no sign of the jitters at all. What about Sheldon?"

"Mmm…had a bit of a panic attack when he couldn't decide which colour tie to go with, and then he decided to make himself look so irresistible that she wouldn't even think about changing her mind."

"Oh, I don't think there's even the slightest chance of that happening; she's so excited that she nearly wet her pants when she saw the dress…how did Sheldon come up with an idea like that anyway?"

"Oh something about how she loved dressing up as Snow White that day at the park, so he picked out a cream dress with burgundy ribbons lacing up the front and then that little velvet wrap with the fur edging…said she would always be his princess."

"That's so romantic!" Bernadette sighed happily and had a dreamy smile on her face. "I only wish Howard did something as sweet as that for me every once in a while…"

"Why thank you, Bernadette; it's nice to know that my efforts haven't completely gone unnoticed." Sheldon's amused tone had Bernadette and Leonard whirling around to face him. He'd just stepped out of the bathroom and his hair was slightly ruffled rather than being smoothed over to the side. Bernadette tilted her head slightly and looked him over.

"You should style your hair like that for the ceremony, Amy will flip out when she sees your new style."

"You think so? It's not too 'Back Street Boys' for a wedding?" Sheldon frowned a little as he pulled the fastening of his robe tighter around his waist. Bernadette leant up to press a soft kiss against his freshly shaven cheek and murmured in his ear.

"Give yourself an extra spritz of that citrusy aftershave once you've put on your talc…I know for a fact that Amy can't get enough of that smell." Sheldon nodded and gave her a slight grin.

"Sexy toddler, huh?"

"You got it. See you soon, honey." Bernadette gave Sheldon a smile and a wave as she sauntered off back over the hall to deliver Amy's toiletries; things that she didn't really need but it was a good excuse for Bernadette to try and discover how Sheldon was dealing with his pre-wedding jitters…the answer of course, was what jitters?

"What's the time, Howard?" Sheldon called out from the hallway and Howard yelled back that there was plenty of time.

"How do you know there's plenty of time? We didn't discuss what time the ceremony would be!"  
>"Cool your jets, Sheldon; it's barely half ten and the guys decided that noon would be the perfect time to get married. Penny will want to make Amy look absolutely perfect for you, so they're probably over there buffing and polishing away, doing exactly that."<p>

Actually the girls weren't doing any of that, Amy had taken a quick shower and Penny had done her nails for her in a pale French polish; Amy didn't want anything that would make her look too different so they had settled for a natural glow to her cheeks and a little mascara; coating her lips with a soft peach matt finish, as Sheldon hated the slippery look to gloss. Once that was all finished, the girls were sitting on the couch enjoying a glass of wine and sharing a box of chocolates as they relaxed the morning away.

"So Sheldon was okay when you left him? Not showing any signs of wanting to bolt for the nearest train station?" Amy quirked up her lip as she hovered over the tray, finally selecting a strawberry crème filling. Bernadette gave a tinkling laugh as she took another sip from her glass of wine.

"Honey that man couldn't be more ready to marry you, I bumped into him as he was coming out of the shower and I think I persuaded him to try out a new hairstyle for the wedding. If he goes ahead with it, you might want to try and warn your ovaries, cause honey that man looked smoking hot!"

"Honestly Bernie? The words 'hot' and 'Sheldon' don't really seem to fit together in my mind." Penny poured a little more wine into their glasses and frowned over at her friend. "Exactly how much of this bottle have you drunk already?"

"Just enough, sweetie…just enough." Bernadette knocked back the rest of the glass and tapped the rim. "Hit me again, I need to drink enough so that I don't start yelling out when Raj asks if anyone objects…"

"Huh?"

"_No, you know it should have been me_  
><em>Oh, it should have been me<em>  
><em>Oh, somebody call the police<em>  
><em>That woman down there is a doggone thief<em>  
><em>It should have been me<em>  
><em>No doubt, it should have been me<em>  
><em>Oh, it should have been me."<em>

Bernadette started wiggling her hips as she belted out an old song, and Amy collapsed laughing on the couch, Penny staring at them both as if they had gone stark raving mad.

"You know Sheldon did ask me out on a date once, I turned him down as it was just a ploy to make Amy jealous." Penny remarked in an off hand manner and both Amy and Bernadette started laughing again as they sang the chorus once again, changing the lyrics slightly.

_Oh, it should have been __**you**_  
><em>Oh, somebody call the police<em>  
><em>That woman down there is a doggone thief!<em>

"Everything okay in here, ladies?" Leonard asked as he walked in to find all three of them mopping up tears of laughter.

"B..Be..Bernadette said Sheldon looked smokin' hot and that I need to warn my ovaries!" Amy gasped out between fits of laughter, and Bernadette grinned wickedly over at Leonard.

"Yeah, I'm a man stealing witch so you'd better watch out, Leonard…" She curled her fingers up and hissed between her teeth. Leonard chuckled as he stepped over the empty chocolate box and ducked into the bedroom.

"I'm gonna get changed over at Sheldon's, it's just gone eleven so the three of you might want to think about getting ready soon." He dropped a kiss on Penny's cheek and winked over at Bernadette as she puckered up her lips. "You couldn't handle me, Bernie…I'm far too needy for a vamp like you."

"You've met my husband, right? Guy across the hall, about yay high, wears weird looking clothes? Trust me, you haven't seen needy unless you've lived with him a while." Bernadette pouted and Leonard leant over to brush a kiss across her cheeks.

"That will have to do you for now, can't have you all tousled for the wedding." He straightened up and quirked his eyebrow over at Amy. "No sugar for you, Ames?"

"No thank you, Leonard…I fear one taste of my lips would lure you away from Penny's charms and you would be my slave forever." Leonard didn't quite know whether Amy was yanking his chain or being her usual cryptic self, but when he saw the glint behind her eyes, he tugged on one of her loose curls.

"You'd think that having one love slave would be enough for any woman, but here you are wanting two of us…I think I'd better scoot before you ensnare me with your lustful gaze."

"Yeah, you'd better run Leonard…Amy's ovaries are getting primed for action!" Penny yelled out as Leonard grabbed his suit from the arm of the couch and made a dash for the hallway.


	31. Chapter 31

"Leonard! Thank goodness you're here! Tell me, should I wear the burgundy cummerbund or the white to match my shirt? What tie should I wear?" Sheldon's panicked dash from the bedroom had Leonard chuckling to himself.

"Relax, Sheldon…Amy's the one that's supposed to be all in a dither not you. For someone that only decided to get married about twenty minutes ago, she's pretty calm about the whole thing."

"But what if she realises that I'm not the great catch that she thinks I am and backs out at the last second? I need to make myself look so appealing that she won't be able to resist me! Now, help me decide please!"

"Okay, you're wearing the tux that you bought for Howard's wedding?"

"Gosh no! I bought a full morning suit especially for the occasion, it has a longer length jacket that will make Amy see me as something out of her beloved regency tales." Sheldon dismissed Leonard's idea that he would wear the very same suit as silly, if Amy got to wear a special dress for her big day, he was going to wear something just as zazzy!

"Oh, very nice…I wonder what I would look like in something like that for my wedding…" Leonard sucked his stomach in a little as he held the long coat in front of him, staring at his reflection in the mirror. "You got it in grey rather than black, too…good choice."

"Yes, grey doesn't make my skin look so washed out. So, burgundy or white?" Sheldon held up the two lengths of material for inspection and Leonard tilted his head to the side.

"Hmm…I saw the little velvet cape that you picked out for Amy, that's burgundy so you should go with the same colour for your tie and cummerbund. Do you have a burgundy tie to match?"

"Of course, I went with a bow tie rather than a traditional Windsor; I picked up a matching tie for you as well. Do you have a grey suit that you could wear?"

"I think so, it's a shade lighter than this one, but it will do nicely. I take it I'm standing up with you then?" Sheldon looked at Leonard as if he had said something completely ridiculous and patted his shoulder.

"Who else would I have chosen on this momentous occasion? You'll be my best man and Penny of course, is Amy's maid of honour. Right that's the clothes sorted, we've got to get the living room organised now; everything we need is in the closet…I told Amy that's where I was keeping her Christmas present stored, so she's kept her distance all week." Sheldon carefully hung the cummerbund and tie over the coat hanger and stepped out of the bedroom and into the living room. "I'd like to move the couch over so that it's parallel with the desk and then have the arch set up next to the Christmas tree…there should be a garland and little fairy lights to wrap around the arch in the closet as well." Sheldon moved the coffee table over to the kitchen counter and started rolling up the rug, exposing the bare wooden floor.

"Should I move the telephone table out of the way as well?" Leonard looked at the small table was sitting next to the tree and Sheldon nodded.

"Yeah, it's kind of right in the way there. I've got a couple of panels under my bed that I borrowed from the university, I thought we could set them up as some sort of room divider, hiding the couch away out of sight."

"Nice…we could drape some cloths over the top of the panels to make them look a little more formal." Leonard scurried off to retrieve the panels from beneath Sheldon's bed as the other man started rummaging through his clean linens in search of some cream sheets.

"Ah, perfect!" He pulled out a couple of sets that Amy had brought over from her apartment and was just setting them down on the armchair when Raj and Howard let themselves in.

"Sheldon! Congratulations, man…I couldn't be happier for you!" Howard grinned over at Sheldon, slapping him on the back to congratulate him. Both men were dressed in neat suits, with a plain tie and Raj was carrying his certificate under his arm.

"Could you give me a hand shifting the couch over there?" Sheldon jerked his head over to the platform and all three men crab walked the heavy couch over in place. Leonard came in with the dividers and quickly set them up, hiding the computer desk and couch from view. "I'll just drape these over…" Sheldon muttered under his breath and Raj gently nudged him aside.

"Dude, decorating is my speciality…go and grab a shower or something to eat and let me take care of this for you."

"Yeah, I'll set up the arch and do the lights…you go and get ready; I'll come through and do your tie a bit later." Leonard gave Sheldon a gentle shove toward the bathroom and stood there waiting until Sheldon left. Leonard then turned to Raj and Howard and rubbed his hands together. "Did you get everything else set up?"

"Yeah, Wil's gonna be here around eleven…Stuart's bringing the present, he's been working on it ever since Amy moved in and just had the last bit to finish off as soon as we knew Sheldon was going to pop the question." Howard looked up from where he was assembling the arch on the floor and with Leonard's help raised it upright, next to the tree.

"Now for the lights and flower garland…" Leonard grabbed the items from the bottom of the closet and started twining the garland up the sides of the arch, fastening them in place with a little wire as he went. "Hey, Raj there are a couple of bunches of loose flowers here, do you want to fasten them to the top of the divider?"

"Great idea, I've gathered the material together so that it creates soft billowing drapes and those flowers would look great along the curves."

"Try not to use too many staples, I don't think Amy would appreciate great holes made in the top of her sheets." Howard grinned over at where Raj was wielding the staple gun like it was his best friend.

"I'll buy her new ones, you can't skimp on the staples if you want to create a work of art…and this my friend, is a work of art." Raj stepped back and tapped his finger against his chin thoughtfully, "I think I'm done here."

"Raj, that looks amazing." Bernadette's gasp from the doorway had the guys looking around in surprise. "Amy wanted me to come over and collect a few things out of the bedroom for her, contact lenses, toiletries so forth."

"I think Sheldon's still in the shower so you should be okay to head back there." Leonard jerked his head down the hallway and Bernadette skipped off. "Okay, what are we going to do about this bare floor? It doesn't look very appealing does it?"

"Does Amy have any of that fake snow left in the batcave? We could spray it over the floor and add a little glitter for added sparkle. It washes off with a little soap and water so it won't do any damage." Raj offered his suggestion and both men agreed it was a fine plan. Leonard knew just where Amy kept the cans and headed off into the spare room to fetch it, meeting Bernadette coming down the hallway on his way.

"How's Amy doing over there?"

"Great, no sign of the jitters at all. What about Sheldon?"

"Mmm…had a bit of a panic attack when he couldn't decide which colour tie to go with, and then he decided to make himself look so irresistible that she wouldn't even think about changing her mind."

"Oh, I don't think there's even the slightest chance of that happening; she's so excited that she nearly wet her pants when she saw the dress…how did Sheldon come up with an idea like that anyway?"

"Oh something about how she loved dressing up as Snow White that day at the park, so he picked out a cream dress with burgundy ribbons lacing up the front and then that little velvet wrap with the fur edging…said she would always be his princess."

"That's so romantic!" Bernadette sighed happily and had a dreamy smile on her face. "I only wish Howard did something as sweet as that for me every once in a while…"

"Why thank you, Bernadette; it's nice to know that my efforts haven't completely gone unnoticed." Sheldon's amused tone had Bernadette and Leonard whirling around to face him. He'd just stepped out of the bathroom and his hair was slightly ruffled rather than being smoothed over to the side. Bernadette tilted her head slightly and looked him over.

"You should style your hair like that for the ceremony, Amy will flip out when she sees your new style."

"You think so? It's not too 'Back Street Boys' for a wedding?" Sheldon frowned a little as he pulled the fastening of his robe tighter around his waist. Bernadette leant up to press a soft kiss against his freshly shaven cheek and murmured in his ear.

"Give yourself an extra spritz of that citrusy aftershave once you've put on your talc…I know for a fact that Amy can't get enough of that smell." Sheldon nodded and gave her a slight grin.

"Sexy toddler, huh?"

"You got it. See you soon, honey." Bernadette gave Sheldon a smile and a wave as she sauntered off back over the hall to deliver Amy's toiletries; things that she didn't really need but it was a good excuse for Bernadette to try and discover how Sheldon was dealing with his pre-wedding jitters…the answer of course, was what jitters?

"What's the time, Howard?" Sheldon called out from the hallway and Howard yelled back that there was plenty of time.

"How do you know there's plenty of time? We didn't discuss what time the ceremony would be!"  
>"Cool your jets, Sheldon; it's barely half ten and the guys decided that noon would be the perfect time to get married. Penny will want to make Amy look absolutely perfect for you, so they're probably over there buffing and polishing away, doing exactly that."<p>

Actually the girls weren't doing any of that, Amy had taken a quick shower and Penny had done her nails for her in a pale French polish; Amy didn't want anything that would make her look too different so they had settled for a natural glow to her cheeks and a little mascara; coating her lips with a soft peach matt finish, as Sheldon hated the slippery look to gloss. Once that was all finished, the girls were sitting on the couch enjoying a glass of wine and sharing a box of chocolates as they relaxed the morning away.

"So Sheldon was okay when you left him? Not showing any signs of wanting to bolt for the nearest train station?" Amy quirked up her lip as she hovered over the tray, finally selecting a strawberry crème filling. Bernadette gave a tinkling laugh as she took another sip from her glass of wine.

"Honey that man couldn't be more ready to marry you, I bumped into him as he was coming out of the shower and I think I persuaded him to try out a new hairstyle for the wedding. If he goes ahead with it, you might want to try and warn your ovaries, cause honey that man looked smoking hot!"

"Honestly Bernie? The words 'hot' and 'Sheldon' don't really seem to fit together in my mind." Penny poured a little more wine into their glasses and frowned over at her friend. "Exactly how much of this bottle have you drunk already?"

"Just enough, sweetie…just enough." Bernadette knocked back the rest of the glass and tapped the rim. "Hit me again, I need to drink enough so that I don't start yelling out when Raj asks if anyone objects…"

"Huh?"

"_No, you know it should have been me_  
><em>Oh, it should have been me<em>  
><em>Oh, somebody call the police<em>  
><em>That woman down there is a doggone thief<em>  
><em>It should have been me<em>  
><em>No doubt, it should have been me<em>  
><em>Oh, it should have been me."<em>

Bernadette started wiggling her hips as she belted out an old song, and Amy collapsed laughing on the couch, Penny staring at them both as if they had gone stark raving mad.

"You know Sheldon did ask me out on a date once, I turned him down as it was just a ploy to make Amy jealous." Penny remarked in an off hand manner and both Amy and Bernadette started laughing again as they sang the chorus once again, changing the lyrics slightly.

_Oh, it should have been __**you**_  
><em>Oh, somebody call the police<em>  
><em>That woman down there is a doggone thief!<em>

"Everything okay in here, ladies?" Leonard asked as he walked in to find all three of them mopping up tears of laughter.

"B..Be..Bernadette said Sheldon looked smokin' hot and that I need to warn my ovaries!" Amy gasped out between fits of laughter, and Bernadette grinned wickedly over at Leonard.

"Yeah, I'm a man stealing witch so you'd better watch out, Leonard…" She curled her fingers up and hissed between her teeth. Leonard chuckled as he stepped over the empty chocolate box and ducked into the bedroom.

"I'm gonna get changed over at Sheldon's, it's just gone eleven so the three of you might want to think about getting ready soon." He dropped a kiss on Penny's cheek and winked over at Bernadette as she puckered up her lips. "You couldn't handle me, Bernie…I'm far too needy for a vamp like you."

"You've met my husband, right? Guy across the hall, about yay high, wears weird looking clothes? Trust me, you haven't seen needy unless you've lived with him a while." Bernadette pouted and Leonard leant over to brush a kiss across her cheeks.

"That will have to do you for now, can't have you all tousled for the wedding." He straightened up and quirked his eyebrow over at Amy. "No sugar for you, Ames?"

"No thank you, Leonard…I fear one taste of my lips would lure you away from Penny's charms and you would be my slave forever." Leonard didn't quite know whether Amy was yanking his chain or being her usual cryptic self, but when he saw the glint behind her eyes, he tugged on one of her loose curls.

"You'd think that having one love slave would be enough for any woman, but here you are wanting two of us…I think I'd better scoot before you ensnare me with your lustful gaze."

"Yeah, you'd better run Leonard…Amy's ovaries are getting primed for action!" Penny yelled out as Leonard grabbed his suit from the arm of the couch and made a dash for the hallway.


	32. Chapter 32

Leonard was just fixing Sheldon's tie when he heard voices coming from the living room announcing the arrival of some unexpected guests. He gave the tie a final pat and flicked a piece of lint from Sheldon's shoulder.

"Now, Sheldon…the boys and I have cooked up a little surprise for you, so I don't want you to start freaking out on me, alright?"

"Strippers? You got me strippers? Oh Leonard that won't do, what if Amy walks in and finds one gyrating on my lap? No, you'll have to send them back from whence they came."

"Well, Shelly I've popped out a baby since I last served tables at Fudruckers but I guess I could still pull of the same old moves if I tried." An amused voice from the doorway, had Sheldon whirling around in shock, his jaw dropping open as he saw the familiar lean limbs coming into view.

"Missy? Oh, it's so great that you're here!" Sheldon pushed past Leonard to sweep his sister into his arms, giving her a bone crushing hug.

"Shelly, where else would I be on the day my other half gets hitched?" Missy leant back against his arms and smiled up at her twin brother. "There's someone else in the living room that can't wait to see you…" She clasped his hand tightly as she led him out of his room and down the hallway, as he peered into the living room he saw the area transformed with twinkling lights and white fold up chairs set up in neat rows of four going across the width of the room. What made his breath catch in his throat was the sight of his Mama and beloved Meemaw sitting in the first row, both beaming with happiness.

"Meemaw! Mama!" Sheldon dropped Missy's hand and raced toward the two women that held a special place in his heart.

"Shellybean, look how handsome you are? Doesn't he look the spitting image of his granddaddy?" Mary Cooper leant back a little so that she could take a good look at her son, standing so tall and proud in his wedding suit. Meemaw's eyes glistened with a faint sheen of tears as she clasped her grandson's hand tightly and she nodded in response.

"Pop-pop would be so proud of you…Just know that he's with you today, right here where he's always been." Meemaw held her hand over Sheldon's heart and he nodded solemnly.

"I won't forget…but how did you get here so soon? I only asked her a few days ago and suggested that we get married just this morning!"

"Oh, a little birdy told us that you were plannin' on getting hitched as soon as she agreed to a date; I knew that Meemaw sent you over the ring already, so we had the tickets all booked. We got the early morning flight out of Houston on Continental and it was only a little under three hours, your friend Wil picked us up at LAX and drove us straight over." Mary waved over at Wil, who was dressed in a sharp looking suit and he grinned over at Sheldon, giving him a thumbs up.

"George Jnr sends his best, but couldn't get time off at short notice. Christmas time is his busiest season and he can make a lot of money over the holidays. He said he'll make sure to book time off in advance whenever you and Amy come down to visit." Missy tugged Sheldon aside and murmured that she was popping across the hall to visit with the girls until it was time to begin. Sheldon nodded and she slipped away.

Next to arrive was Stuart, who was accompanied by a slimmed down version of Debbie Wolowitz.

"Mrs. Wolowitz, you look great!" Leonard walked over to greet them, taking Debbie's hand and looking her up and down. "That's more than a few pounds you've lost, isn't it?"

"Sweetheart, I've lost nearly half of my body weight thanks to Stuart here; he's had me eating right and exercising with him in the morning; I feel fit as a fiddle." Debbie smoothed her hand down the fabric of her black dress that was splashed all over with red poppies. "He gave me this dress for Christmas as a reward for sticking to my diet…wasn't that sweet of him?"  
>"Ma! You made it!" Howard looked over to see his mother talking with Leonard and walked over to press a kiss to her cheek. "You look great! New dress?"<p>

"It is…where's that little wife of yours hiding out? I want to thank her for those pills she had me try; I haven't had gassy pains for weeks since I started on them." Debbie craned her neck, trying to spot Bernadette in the living room and Howard steered her over to one of the chairs instead.

"She's helping to get Amy ready for the ceremony; they're due to start soon, I just need to borrow Stuart for a little while and then I'll bring him back to you, okay?"

"Sure, sure…I'll just sit here by myself and pretend that everyone hasn't abandoned me." Debbie looked around the room, and let out a heavy sigh. Howard gestured to Raj who walked over to sit next to Debbie.

"Debbie, lovely to see you again. My, don't you look resplendent today…" Raj oozed with charm and Debbie gave a girlish giggle as she patted her short curly hair.

"Ooh, you're such a charmer? Where's that little redheaded girlfriend of yours? She's not given you the push, I hope? You need to let me set you up with a nice girl from a good Jewish family…"

"Emily and I are still together, she's spending Christmas on a skiing holiday with her family. They go to France every year and it's a little too soon in our relationship for me to have gone with her. She'll be back in the New Year and we'll have a little Christmas do over all to ourselves."

"Well, you just let me know if things don't work out," Debbie patted Raj on the knee. "I've got plenty of friends with cute daughters that would just love to get to know someone as exotic as you."

Howard came back with Stuart, having hidden away the large black folder that he had arrived with, and Stuart slipped into the seat next to Debbie. Raj glanced at his watch and rose up.

"I think I'd better get myself looking beautiful…see you soon."

"Where's he off to in a hurry?" Debbie looked over as Raj headed for the bathroom, toting a good sized toiletry bag with him.

"He's performing the ceremony; he's the only one of them that re-ordained himself after they married Bernadette and I…Sheldon isn't at all religious and probably never would have thought about getting married if he had to do it with a reverend's involvement."

"So, it's not a real wedding then?"

"Sure it is, Sheldon had to get a license from County Hall and Raj has to take it down there next week so that it can be properly registered. It's all completely above board, Raj just produces his certificate classing him as an ordained minister and they issue the marriage certificate. Just like if you were to get married at County Hall." Howard explained the process to his mother, knowing that in her eyes unless you had a Rabbi asking you to break the glass under your foot, it wasn't a real ceremony at all. Debbie must have mellowed slightly since living with Stuart, because she just nodded her head and remarked that religion wasn't for everybody.

Sheldon walked up to the front of the arch and turned to address the guests. "I'd just like to thank everyone for leaving their families to come over and join me on this special occasion. I know that it couldn't have been easy for Missy to leave her husband and baby on Christmas Day so for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"Just to let you know, he expects a really good Christmas present for next year!" Missy called out, having slipped back into the room to sit between her mother and grandmother; and Sheldon chuckled breathily as he nodded his head.

"Thanks to Debbie and Howard for being with us after the eight day of Hanukkah; I'd say one of the blessings for you, but I know it wouldn't come out quite right, so just thank you."

"And you call yourself a genius!" Howard called out from the back row and Sheldon waved him to his seat.

"Amy will be out soon, and she doesn't expect any of this so treat her gently please and try not to scare her off? Howard, if you could let the ladies know that we're ready to proceed?" Sheldon took a deep breath and straightened up the hem of his coat, turning around to face the front of the arch where Raj was standing with his folder open in his hands. Howard popped his head around the door and Leonard flicked on the stereo and a soft instrumental version of the theme from 'Love Story' started to play as everyone rose to their feet to face the door.


	33. Chapter 33

Amy walked slowly into the apartment, Penny and Bernadette trailing closely behind. Her dress was floor length and didn't have a train, but all three of them moved in unison as they made their way along the living room and started walking toward the flower festooned archway. Leonard stood proudly at his friend's side and snuck a glance over his shoulder as Amy approached the makeshift altar. "She looks great, Sheldon, you're a very lucky man."

"I know." Sheldon murmured back, only turning to look at Amy as he felt her draw near to his side.

"I didn't know your family was coming!"  
>"Neither did I…the guys arranged it as a surprise and they flew out this morning. Do you mind?"<p>

"Mind? Not at all, it makes it all the more special." Amy's fingers twitched at her side, and Sheldon reached out to clasp it tightly; not willing to let her go for even a second. Raj looked over to them and when Sheldon gave him a nod, he began.

"Sheldon and Amy would not be standing before us today if not for the help of two cupids in the form of myself and Howard. No one would have believed that two people could be more suited to one another and yet here they are…two hearts willing to be joined together as one for all time. Sheldon is there something that you'd like to say to Amy?"

Sheldon turned slightly to face his fiancée, reaching up with one hand to cup her soft cheek. "Amy Farrah Fowler, when I met you I would never have thought that we would end up together, ready to be joined in matrimony. You managed to worm your way into my heart and that's where I hope you will stay…Though lovers be lost, love shall not and death shall have no dominion…"

"Aw, that was so sweet!" Raj blinked back a tear and then coughed to clear his throat, turning to Amy. "And Amy, do you have something that you'd like to say to Sheldon?" Amy blinked back tears of her own as she brought Sheldon's hand to her mouth and pressed a soft kiss against the back of it.

"Sheldon Lee Cooper, when we first met I told you straight out that everything up to and including coitus was off the table…"

"Call the fire brigade people, 'cos someone's butt is burning up!" Penny hooted from the front row and Wil tugged her back in her seat. Amy grinned over at her bestie and picked up where she left off.

"I tried to blame it on an alien parasite or a brain tumour but knew that only you were capable of making me feel such things like I never imagined. You're an infection in my blood that I hope they never find a cure for… 'You must allow me to tell you how much I ardently admire and love you.'"

"If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes have not changed, but one word from you will silence me forever." Sheldon quoted back to her and Amy smiled through her tears.

"I love you, Sheldon Lee Cooper and I take you for my husband."

"I love you, Amy Farrah Fowler and I take you for my wife." In perfect synchronisation, they each slid a plain, wide, gold band onto each other's ring finger and held on tightly.

"I now pronounce you, man and wife. Sheldon, you may kiss your bride." Raj closed his folder and waved his hand in front of Sheldon's face. "Yoo hoo, I said you can kiss her now!"

"Oh, sorry..." Sheldon flushed as he realised that he'd been staring into Amy's sparkling eyes and completely missed the end of the ceremony. He suddenly found himself yanked forward as Amy gripped onto the front of his jacket and captured his mouth in a warm, lush kiss.

"Get a room!" Wil yelled out through cupped hands, and Amy reluctantly pulled away from her new husband, Sheldon trying to follow her mouth backwards.

"Ladies and Gentlemen…I present to you Doctor and Doctor Cooper!" Raj led the round of applause as Sheldon picked Amy up by the waist and whirled her around in his arms, finishing off with another kiss as he dipped her over his arm. Laughing, they ran down the makeshift aisle and were surrounded by their family and friends who gathered around them, hugging and laughing with the newly-weds.

"Come on, there's someone I'd like you to meet." Sheldon tugged on Amy's hand and led her over to where his Meemaw was waiting patiently in her chair. "Meemaw, I'd like to introduce you to someone very special, my wife, Amy." Sheldon sounded incredibly proud as he introduced Amy as his wife for the very first time, and Meemaw rose up from the chair to enfold Amy in a warm hug.

"Darling girl, it's so very nice to meet you after all of this time. Let me take a look at the woman that's managed to capture my sweet Moonpie's heart." Meemaw stood back a little and ran her eyes over Amy's heavy cream gown, and then back up to stare into her eyes. "You'll do just fine, you've got that special glow about you and it just about shines from your eyes…I can see why Shelly's so taken with you, my Tom had the same look every day of his life."

"Thank you, that means a lot to me." Amy hugged the tiny woman again and Meemaw stroked a hand over her hair.

"Now you just make sure you give me a whole bushel of great grandbabies to look after and we'll say no more about the two of you moving in together before you were married!"

"How did you know?" Sheldon gaped in surprise, he felt certain that none of his family knew that they were living together and Amy suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth.

"The parcels! I had Missy and Meemaw send them here, and I should have had them sent to a post office box or something." Meemaw tapped the side of her nose and winked slowly.

"I won't say anything to Mary if the two of you keep your promise…I want at least two grandbabies before I go off to join your grandfather."

"Meemaw, you're too ornery to die just yet."

"If the two of you don't get started on those babies, I may die just to prove a point! Don't leave me waiting too long, now." Meemaw waved her finger at the couple before walking over to speak with Mary and Missy. Sheldon just looked at Amy, who shrugged her shoulders.

"We do both have a long sabbatical from the university…there's no reason why we shouldn't start trying for a baby, if that's something that you think you might be ready for."

"Oh, darlin'…I think I'm more than ready to take that journey with you." Sheldon breathed out, running his finger through one of her long curls that had slipped down from where they were casually pinned on top of her head.

"Okay then, I'll come off the pill and we'll start trying straight away."

"Yeehaw!" Sheldon yelled out as he scooped her up in his arms and whirled her around in a spin. "We're gonna have a baby!"

"What?"

"Come again?"

"You're kidding me!"

They were bombarded with questions from all sides, and Sheldon looked a little bashful as he set Amy down and hung his head a little.

"Sorry, what I meant to say is that we've decided to try for a baby as soon as possible…not that we were actually pregnant at this very moment."

"Aw…and there I was ready to pack up some of Mikey's old things and ship them down to you." Missy ran her fingers through Sheldon's hair and teased him with her slow drawl. "You just give me a yell as soon as it happens and I'll send you everything I have…There's no way in hell I'm going through that again in a hurry."

"I'll have Mary take me into Houston and pick out some soft wool for the shawl I'm gonna be knitting up for y'all." Meemaw winked over at Amy and tugged on Mary's arm. "Haven't you got something to say to the young 'uns Mary?"

"I'll be happy to help out in any way that I can, I know your parents are living abroad, Amy; so if you want me to come over and stay with you when your time comes near, you just give me a shout."

"Thank you all so much, I'm not even pregnant and here you all are offering to help; it's a little overwhelming to tell the truth." Sheldon wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her cheek tenderly.

"Welcome to the family, Amy."


End file.
